scholarly journals The complacency of legality: Constitutionalist vulnerabilities to populist constituent power

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-361
Author(s):  
Julian Scholtes
Keyword(s):  
Political Power ◽  
Public Law ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
Social Embeddedness ◽  
Constituent Power ◽  
The Social ◽  
Liberal Constitutionalism ◽  
Positive Perspective ◽  
Political Choices ◽  
The Way

AbstractWhat role do public law and liberal constitutionalism play in an era of political populism? This article approaches this question by exploring the concept of constituent power in the light of recent constitutional developments in countries with populist governments. It attempts to outline and contrast conceptions of constituent power as inherent in liberal constitutionalist and populist thinking, respectively. While constitutionalists draw heavily upon Kelsenian normativism in framing the way political power is generated, populists juxtapose this with a concept of constituent power that is inspired by Carl Schmitt’s ‘decisionist’ view. The complacency of legality inherent in liberal constitutionalist thinking is susceptible to a populist challenge that draws attention to the necessity for the social embeddedness of any legal order. Populism, it is argued, exposes a core tension inherent in constitutionalism: How do constitutionalists reconcile their democratic aspirations with the simultaneous preclusion of certain political choices from the democratic realm? Populists can attack constitutionalism also because of the deficient conception of constituent power that underlies the latter. The article concludes that, where challenged by populists, public law can at some point no longer rely on its own force to defend itself. Its authority needs to be re-established from an extra-legal, pre-positive perspective. In an era of political populism, constitutionalist public law becomes a discourse that can challenge populism by means of the powerful reasons that inhere in the former.

Liberating Judgment

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas John Casson
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
John Locke ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Early Modern Europe ◽  
Absolute Certainty ◽  
The Social ◽  
Modern Europe ◽  
The Way

Examining the social and political upheavals that characterized the collapse of public judgment in early modern Europe, this book offers a unique account of the achievement of liberal democracy and self-government. The book argues that the work of John Locke instills a civic judgment that avoids the excesses of corrosive skepticism and dogmatic fanaticism, which lead to either political acquiescence or irresolvable conflict. Locke changes the way political power is assessed by replacing deteriorating vocabularies of legitimacy with a new language of justification informed by a conception of probability. For Locke, the coherence and viability of liberal self-government rests not on unassailable principles or institutions, but on the capacity of citizens to embrace probable judgment. The book explores the breakdown of the medieval understanding of knowledge and opinion, and considers how Montaigne's skepticism and Descartes' rationalism—interconnected responses to the crisis—involved a pragmatic submission to absolute rule. Locke endorses this response early on, but moves away from it when he encounters a notion of reasonableness based on probable judgment. In his mature writings, Locke instructs his readers to govern their faculties and intellectual yearnings in accordance with this new standard as well as a vocabulary of justification that might cultivate a self-government of free and equal individuals. The success of Locke's arguments depends upon citizens' willingness to take up the labor of judgment in situations where absolute certainty cannot be achieved.

scholarly journals The Failure of the Stalinist Propagandist: the Trial of Yakov Alperovich, Editor of the Sovetskaya Sibir (1937–1938)

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 354-361
Author(s):  
S. A. Papkov
Keyword(s):  
Political Power ◽  
Career Path ◽  
Career Ladder ◽  
Stalin Era ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Way

The research featured the biography of Yakov Alperovich, a prominent figure of the Siberian Soviet establishment in the 1920s–1930s. Starting at the social bottom, his career path was a typical example of the dramatic fate that befell most Stalinist officials. The article describes the main steps of his career ladder on the way to political power during the purges of 1937–1938, as well as the changes in the Stalinist politics in the 1930s, which were the ruin of the internal party relations. The author assessed the socio-political atmosphere in the administrative establishment. The study focused on the role of denunciations as a tool against the so-called hostile elements. The dramatic end of Yakov Alperovich, a district committee secretary and an editor, reflects the general tragedy of the Soviet Communists that fell victims to the Stalin's repressions. The article introduces new historical facts and expands the knowledge about Siberia in the Stalin era.

scholarly journals A pedagogia política de Rousseau

2019 ◽  
Vol 89 (222) ◽  
Author(s):  
Neiva Oliveira ◽  
Gomercindo Ghiggi ◽  
Avelino da Rosa Oliveira
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Social Contract ◽  
Political Power ◽  
The Political ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
General Will ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Way

O trabalho tem dois eixos articulados entre si: primeiro, apresenta Emílio e Do Contrato Social como obras pedagógicas de Rousseau; em seguida, mostra a utilização que o autor faz dos conceitos experiência, liberdade e vontade geral, enquanto categorias que dão sustentação a esta pedagogia política. Na primeira linha de reflexão, afirma-se que o próprio fato do Contrato Social estar contido no Emílio indica a vontade instrutora do autor de ensinar as regras básicas para que o cidadão insira-se na sociedade. O Contrato Social visa instruir: Rousseau instrui-se através dele, instrui também Emílio e todo cidadão. A questão pedagógica por excelência é a explicitação da natureza do poder político. No segundo eixo temático, afirma-se que há em Rousseau uma intencionalidade educativa onde a relação entre liberdade e autoridade é uma das tensões que ocorre. Da concepção de natureza humana exposta em sua exterioridade, Rousseau extrai o critério de construção do essencial no humano, o que tem valor permanente e substantivo, que é necessário. Nesta perspectiva de formação e educação há um elemento que se destaca, sem o qual o homem perde a dimensão que o distingue: a liberdade, não ilimitada, mas regulada pela necessidade, pela autoridade da vontade geral. Palavras-chave: Rousseau; pedagogia política; liberdade; necessidade; vontade geral Abstract The paper encompasses two paths of argumentation. First, it brings forward both Rousseau’s Emile and The Social Contract as educational works; next, it shows the way the author makes use of concepts such as experience, freedom and general will as categories that provide support to his political pedagogy. In the first argumentative path, it is stated that the very fact that The Social Contract is contained inside Emile indicates the author’s will of teaching the basic rules for a citizen to join society. The Social Contract aims at instructing: through it, Rousseau instructs himself, as well as he instructs Emile, and every citizen. The pedagogical question by excellence is the explanation of the political power. In the second argumentative path, it is stated that there is in Rousseau an educational intentionality in which takes place a tension between freedom and authority. Rousseau brings out from the concept of human nature the criterion for the construction of what is essential in human beings, of what has lasting and substantial worth, of what is necessary. In such a perspective of formation and education, it is freedom that is uplifted, and without it, man loses what makes him different from other beings. But it is not unlimited freedom that distinguishes man; instead, it is freedom ruled by necessity, in other words, by the authority of general will. Keywords: Rousseau; political pedagogy; freedom; necessity; general will

scholarly journals K metodě kritické teorie a jejímu rozvíjení v „novém čtení Marxe“

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 20-47
Author(s):  
Martin Nový
Keyword(s):  
Critical Theory ◽  
Capitalist Society ◽  
Constituent Power ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Domination ◽  
The Way

Tato studie se zabývá problémem metody v kritické teorii. Nejprve zkoumá ustavující texty, v nichž založili Horkheimer a Marcuse kritickou teorii jako dialektický a materialistický přístup k analýze kapitalistické společnosti adekvátní její objektivně-abstraktní povaze. Stať diskutuje též Hegela a Marxe, nejdůležitější předchůdce frankfurtské školy, a způsob, jímž kritická teorie čerpá z jejich děl. Dále příspěvek obrací svou pozornost k Adornovým metodologickým postulátům, jež vyústily v analytické kategorie „reálné abstrakce“ a „objektivní konceptuality“. Reichelt a Backhaus vyšli z Adorna, jehož byli žáky, a interpretovali v tradici kritické teorie Marxovo dílo jako úsilí o zachycení určité kvality procesu inverze, v němž je práce, lidská moc ustavující společnost, nahrazena sociálním panstvím kapitalistických abstrakcí, které degradují její tvůrčí potenciál. Nové čtení Marxe dále analyzuje mizení smyslovosti v říši nadsmyslné reality kapitálu jako vůdčí hegeliánský motiv v celé Marxově práci. The essay deals with the problem of method in Critical theory. Firstly, it explores the constituent texts in which Horkheimer and Marcuse founded Critical theory as a dialectical and materialist approach for analysing capitalist society in terms of its objectively-abstract nature. It discusses its most important predecessors – Hegel and Marx – and the way critical theory is based on their works. Secondly, the essay turns its attention to Adorno's methodological postulates that resulted into analytical categories of ‘real abstraction’ and ‘objective conceptuality’. Building upon Adorno, their mentor, Reichelt and Backhaus interpreted, in the tradition of critical theory, Marx's oeuvre as an endeavour to catch determinate quality of the process of inversion in which labour, humanity's constituent power, is displaced and demoted by the social domination of capitalist abstractions. The neue Marx-Lektüre further analyses the disappearance of sensuousness in the realm of supersensible reality of capital as the defining Hegelian motive in Marx.

The Ottoman Berats of the Greek Orthodox Patrirach of Jerusalem (1872–1931)

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-201
Author(s):  
İhsan Satış ◽  
Muhammed Ceyhan
Keyword(s):  
Public Law ◽  
Greek Orthodox ◽  
Domestic Relations ◽  
Sharia Law ◽  
Executive Authority ◽  
The Way

Ottoman Berats (charters 1 1 The authors prefer to use the term Berat, a Turkish expression which is also used extensively in the literature. The term ‘charter’ has more institutional meaning and since each Patriarch received its own specific Berat so the word charter does not give the full meaning. ) were official documents issued by Sultans delineating the tasks, powers, exemptions and concessions granted to Greek Orthodox Patriarchs to be the applicable within the jurisdiction of the Patriarchs. The Berat also showed that the Patriarch was elected by the Synod and approved by the Sultan. A Patriarch who did not have Berat could not perform his duties or exercise executive authority. This article critically examines the Berats of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem in the period 1873–1931. These Berats are analysed in terms of their contents as well as in connection to the way non-Muslims were subject to rules which applied to the domestic relations of the Greek Orthodox community and to public law areas which came within the scope of Sharia law.

Our Most Troubling Madness

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Defeat ◽  
Social World ◽  
Epidemiological Evidence ◽  
The West ◽  
Social Settings ◽  
The Social ◽  
Brain Alteration ◽  
Benign Course ◽  
Cultural Features ◽  
The Way

This book examines the way schizophrenia is shaped by its social context: how life is lived with this madness in different settings, and what it is about those settings that alters the course of the illness, its outcome, and even the structure of its symptoms. Until recently, schizophrenia was perhaps our best example—our poster child—for the “bio-bio-bio” model of psychiatric illness: genetic cause, brain alteration, pharmacologic treatment. We now have direct epidemiological evidence that people are more likely to fall ill with schizophrenia in some social settings than in others, and more likely to recover in some social settings than in others. Something about the social world gets under the skin. This book presents twelve case studies written by psychiatric anthropologists that help to illustrate some of the variability in the social experience of schizophrenia and that illustrate the main hypotheses about the different experience of schizophrenia in the west and outside the west--and in particular, why schizophrenia seems to have a more benign course and outcome in India. We argue that above all it is the experience of “social defeat” that increases the risk and burden of schizophrenia, and that opportunities for social defeat are more abundant in the modern west. There is a new role for anthropology in the science of schizophrenia. Psychiatric science has learned—epidemiologically, empirically, quantitatively—that our social world makes a difference. But the highly structured, specific-variable analytic methods of standard psychiatric science cannot tell us what it is about culture that has that impact. The careful observation enabled by rich ethnography allows us to see in more detail what kinds of social and cultural features may make a difference to a life lived with schizophrenia. And if we understand culture’s impact more deeply, we believe that we may improve the way we reach out to help those who struggle with our most troubling madness.

Attention Sustainability Impact on Social Status in the Class

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-46
Author(s):  
Stanislava Varadinova
Keyword(s):  
Social Status ◽  
Communication Skills ◽  
School Dropout ◽  
Learning Material ◽  
Early School ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Way ◽  
Positive Environment

The attention sustainability and its impact of social status in the class are current issues concerning the field of education are the reasons for delay in assimilating the learning material and early school dropout. Behind both of those problems stand psychological causes such as low attention sustainability, poor communication skills and lack of positive environment. The presented article aims to prove that sustainability of attention directly influences the social status of students in the class, and hence their overall development and the way they feel in the group. Making efforts to increase students’ attention sustainability could lead to an increase in the social status of the student and hence the creation of a favorable and positive environment for the overall development of the individual.

Overcoming the Civilizational Crisis - On the Way of Spiritual and Cultural Self Identification. On the Social and Philosophical Heritage of I.A. Ilyin

2013 ◽  
pp. 76-80
Author(s):  
Alexander M. Sharipov
Keyword(s):  
Great Scientist ◽  
The Social ◽  
Cultural Self ◽  
The Way

On the activity of the International Ilyin Committee (IIC) on preparation and celebration of 130-th Anniversary of I.A.Ilyin, the great scientist and patriot of Russia.

Das Ende der Kultur: Wie Georg Simmel den Begriff der Kultur soziologisch dekonstruiert

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 79-94
Author(s):  
Ferdinand Fellmann
Keyword(s):  
Social Identity ◽  
Philosophy Of History ◽  
Georg Simmel ◽  
The Social ◽  
Auguste Comte ◽  
Individual Self ◽  
The Way

In this paper I claim that the metaphysical concept of culture has come to an end. Among the European authors Georg Simmel is the foremost who has deconstructed the myth of culture as a substantial totality beyond relations or prior to them. Two tenets of research have prepared the end of all-inclusive culture: First, Simmel’s formal access that considers society as the modality of interactions and relations between individuals, thus overcoming the social evolutionism of Auguste Comte; second, his critical exegesis of idealistic philosophy of history, thus leaving behind the Hegelian tradition. Although Simmel adheres in some statements to the out-dated idea of morphological unity, his sociological and epistemological thinking paved the way for the concept of social identity as a network of series connected loosely by contiguity. This type of connection is confirmed by the present feeling of life as individual self-invention according to changing situations.

Tanks in the Spa Town. The New Book about the Events of the Year 1968 in Czechoslovakia

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 278-282
Author(s):  
Kirill A. Popov
Keyword(s):  
Fiftieth Anniversary ◽  
Warsaw Pact ◽  
Scientific Event ◽  
The Social ◽  
Prague Spring ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Scientific Terms ◽  
Selection Of ◽  
Regional Perspective ◽  
The Way

This review is devoted to the monograph by Jan Nedvěd “We do not decline our heads. The events of the year 1968 in Karlovy Vary”. The Karlovy Vary municipal museum coincided its publishing with the fiftieth anniversary of the Prague spring which, considering the way of the presentation, turned the book not only to scientific event but also to the social one. The book describes sociopolitical trends in the region before the year 1968, the development of the reformist movement, the invasion and advance of the armies of the Warsaw Pact countries, and finally the decline of the reformist mood and the beginning of the normalization. Working on his writing, the author deeply studied the materials of the local archive and gathered the unique selection of the photographs depicting the passage of the soviet army through the spa town and the protest actions of its inhabitants. In the meantime, Nedvěd takes undue freedom with scientific terms, and his selection of historiography raises questions. The author bases his research on the Czech papers and scarcely uses the books of Russian origin. He also did not study the subject of the participating of the GDR’s army in the operation Danube, although these troops were concentrated on the borders of Karlovy Vary region as well. Because of this decision, there are no materials from German archives or historiography in the monograph. In general, the work lacks the width of studying its subject, but it definitively accomplishes the task of depicting the Prague spring from the regional perspective.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document