Reviving Legislative Avenues for Gerrymandering Reform with a Flexible, Automated Tool

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 372-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Saxon
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
The Political ◽  
Formal Definition ◽  
Racial And Ethnic Minorities ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
History Of ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Automated Tool ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Congressional Action

After seeking a “manageable standard” to apply to claims of partisan gerrymandering for over three decades, the Supreme Court has finally given up the chase, ruling that such claims are nonjusticiable. What is to be done? An extended history of successful congressional action suggests that the legislative pathway is more practical than often believed. Statutory requirements also make it possible to consider a broader suite of districting objectives. This paper presents a flexible new software and a framework for evaluating the practical implications of explicit objectives. I apply this approach to the conditions last required by Congress, generating equipopulous, contiguous, and compact districts. Among these conditions, the formal definition of compactness has proven contentious. Does it matter? I contrast the representation of the political parties and of racial and ethnic minorities under plans optimized according to 18 different definitions of compactness. On these grounds, the definitions are markedly consistent. These methods may be extended to alternative districting objectives and criteria.

Constitutional dialogue in Uganda

2005 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erica Bussey
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Constitutional Amendment ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Canadian Context ◽  
Open Debate ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
History Of ◽  
Dialogue Theory

The paper considers several recent constitutional cases in Uganda, including Constitutional Petition No. 5 of 2003, which struck down several sections of the Political Parties and Organisations Act, aimed at suppressing opposition party activity, and Constitutional Appeal No. 1 of 2002, in which the Supreme Court held that a constitutional amendment which had enabled the 2000 Referendum on political systems was unconstitutional, as examples of an emerging constitutional dialogue in Uganda. The paper examines the history of constitutionalism in Uganda, the 1995 Constitution, and recent constitutional cases in order to analyse the tools available within the Ugandan constitutional framework that make a meaningful dialogue between the courts and the legislature possible, and the ways in which these have, or have not been used in recent decisions. The paper discusses dialogue theory with an emphasis on the use of dialogue in the comparative (and particularly Canadian) context and considers whether dialogue is possible in nondemocratic systems. The recent cases indicate that not only is there the beginnings of a process of dialogue in Uganda, but that this dialogue may in fact be more important in some senses than it is within the democratic framework, since given the lack of open debate in Parliament and other fora, the dialogue between the courts and the legislature is often the only place in which important issues can be debated. However, recent developments, such as Museveni's reaction to the court's decision in Constitutional Petition No. 3 of 2000 which nullified the results of the 2000 Referendum, show how fragile this process of dialogue may be.

Prologue

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter D. McDonald
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Cultural Expression ◽  
Intangible Heritage ◽  
History Of ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Print Literacy

The section introduces Part II, which spans the period 1946 to 2014, by tracing the history of the debates about culture within UNESCO from 1947 to 2009. It considers the central part print literacy played in the early decades, and the gradual emergence of what came to be called ‘intangible heritage’; the political divisions of the Cold War that had a bearing not just on questions of the state and its role as a guardian of culture but on the idea of cultural expression as a commodity; the slow shift away from an exclusively intellectualist definition of culture to a more broadly anthropological one; and the realpolitik surrounding the debates about cultural diversity since the 1990s. The section concludes by showing how at the turn of the new millennium UNESCO caught up with the radical ways in which Tagore and Joyce thought about linguistic and cultural diversity.

What, Where and Why is Europe? Some Answers from Recent Historiography

2010 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 701-713 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Nielsen
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Big Bang ◽  
The Political ◽  
Clear Definition ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Alexander Von Humboldt ◽  
Catching Up ◽  
History Of ◽  
Institutional Expansion ◽  
Definition Of

Writing the history of a continent is generally a tricky business. If the continent is not even a real continent, but rather ‘a western peninsula of Asia’ (Alexander von Humboldt) without a clear definition of where the continent becomes peninsula, things do not get any easier. Despite these problems there is no dearth of trying. In fact, writing European histories seems to become more fashionable by the year — ironically just as the political and institutional expansion of Europe is losing steam. While the European Union is catching its breath, the historians are catching up. With the first wave of post-Euro and post-big-bang-Enlargement literature written, it is time for the reviewer to survey the landscape — and to provide some guideposts for future exploration.

The tenure of English judges

1913 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. H. McIlwain
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
General Object ◽  
William Iii ◽  
Science Association

At the meeting of the Political Science Association last year, in the general discussion, on the subject of the recall, I was surprised and I must admit, a little shocked to hear our recall of judges compared to the English removal of judges on address of the houses of parliament.If we must compare unlike things, rather than place the recall beside the theory or the practice of the joint address, I should even prefer to compare it to a bill of attainder.In history, theory and practice the recall as we have it and the English removal by joint address have hardly anything in common, save the same general object.Though I may not (as I do not) believe in the recall of judges, this paper concerns itself not at all with that opinion, but only with the history and nature of the tenure of English judges, particularly as affected by the possibility of removal on address. I believe a study of that history will show that any attempt to force the address into a close resemblance to the recall, whether for the purpose of furthering or of discrediting the latter, is utterly misleading.In the history of the tenure of English judges the act of 12 and 13 William III, subsequently known as the Act of Settlement, is the greatest landmark. The history of the tenure naturally divides into two parts at the year 1711. In dealing with both parts, for the sake of brevity, I shall confine myself strictly to the judges who compose what since 1873 has been known as the supreme court of judicature.

6. The party system

UK Politics ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 121-143
Author(s):  
Andrew Blick
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Party System ◽  
Conservative Party ◽  
Labour Party ◽  
The Political ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
System P ◽  
Political Approach ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Uk

This chapter switches the focus to political parties. It looks at their individual roles and how they operate. The chapter discusses the parties that constitute the ‘party system’. It considers the two main parties operating at the UK level: the Conservative Party and the Labour Party. It also looks at the smaller parties, such as the Liberal Democrats. The chapter considers the political approach of the various parties and the type of support they attract. It also looks at how parties are funded. The chapter provides a number of theoretical perspectives to help with an analysis of political parties. These are: the extent to which parties pursue values or power; the respective roles of their members and leaders; groupings within parties; how far the UK has a two-party system or whether our definition of the party system should be revised; and the relationships between the various parities. The chapter then gives examples of how these ideas play out with specific focus on recent events involving the Conversative and Labour parties. The chapter asks: do members have too much influence over their parties? The chapter ends by asking: where are we now?

23 Art. 21 GG: Political Parties

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bumke Christian ◽  
Voßkuhle Andreas
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
The Political ◽  
The People ◽  
Federal Constitutional ◽  
State Financing ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Private Financing ◽  
Party State

This chapter considers the relevant provisions of Art. 21 of the Grundgesetz (GG) with regard to political parties. Art. 21 GG does not define the term ‘political party’ and provides only a description of its function, which is ‘to participate in the formation of the political will of the people’. There are two conceptions of political party in the literature: the model of the ‘party state’ and the model of ‘party competition’. Political parties display the elements described in both models. The chapter first examines the Federal Constitutional Court's jurisprudence concerning the definition of ‘party’ before discussing the constitutional freedom to found and organise parties, prohibition of parties, competition between political parties and equality of opportunity among parties, and party financing (private financing and state financing).

The developmental history of solitary and supermax confinement: toward a phenomenology of the state of exception

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Polizzi
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Order ◽  
State Of Exception ◽  
The Political ◽  
Developmental History ◽  
Giorgio Agamben ◽  
Attitudes And Behaviors ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
History Of

The phenomenology of solitary and supermax confinement reflects what Giorgio Agamben has defined as the state of exception. The state of exception is defined as the blurring of the legal and political order, which constructs a zone of indifference for those forced to endure this situation. This notion of the state of exception can be applied to the zone of indifference created by the Supreme Court, which seems unwilling to outlaw this harmful practice relative to 8th Amendment protections prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment and the political order which is all too inclined to continue use strategy. One of the central aspects of this “ecology of harm”, is the way in which the very structures of this type of confinement, helps to invite and legitimize abusive attitudes and behaviors in penitentiary staff.

Assyrians in Iraq

2006 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vahram Petrosian
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
The Political ◽  
Iraqi Kurdistan ◽  
The Status ◽  
History Of

AbstractThe article examines the question of the Assyrian identity; certain problems pertaining to the history of the Assyrian-Kurdish relationships; the problem of the Assyrian autonomy; the role of the political parties of the Iraqi Assyrians; the status of the Assyrians in Iraqi Kurdistan; the Assyrians after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, and several other issues.

scholarly journals Nepal: From Constitutional Monarchy to a Republican State (1990-2008)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tri Ratna Manandhar
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
The Political ◽  
Parliamentary System ◽  
Constituent Assembly ◽  
Head Of State ◽  
Good Government ◽  
History Of ◽  
Maoist Movement ◽  
Democratic Constitution ◽  
Constitutional Monarchy

The peoples’ movement of 1990 was a great landmark in the history of modern Nepal for it ended the three-decades of the old dictatorial rule of the king and established a parliamentary system with the king as a nominal head of state. But unfortunately, the country could not form a good government because of inter and intra-party conflicts. To add fuel to the flame, the rise of the Maoist movement and the royal massacre put the country in a state of confusion and uncertainty. The new king tried to revive dictatorial rule once again by suppressing the political parties and the Maoists. But his attempts failed, and the 19-day movement in 2006 re-established peoples’ sovereignty in the country. The first meeting of the elected constituent assembly in 2008 formally ended monarchy and declared Nepal a republic. But the first constituent assembly ended its four–year term without drafting a constitution. The second constituent assembly has pledged to promulgate a democratic constitution by January 2015, but all indications are that that the country is unlikely to get a constitution in time.  

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