Credible Commitments and the Right to Bear Arms: Viewing the Second Amendment from a Game-Theoretic Perspective

2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 1024-1045
Author(s):  
JAMIE LEVIN

For most of its existence, the Second Amendment was largely ignored by Constitutional scholars. Recently, a veritable cottage industry has developed in which two distinct camps have surfaced: so-called “Standard Modelers,” who argue that individuals have a right to bear arms for self-defense, the defense of the state, and, in the most extreme examples, to overthrow the government should it become tyrannical, and those who view the Second Amendment as a collective right vested in the state militias for the purposes of law enforcement, to protect against foreign aggression, to quell domestic insurrection, and as a check against federal overreach. Despite the enormous gulf between them, both sides agree that the right to bear arms provides a counterbalance against the federal government. This paper uses insights from game theory to shed new light on the adoption of the Second Amendment. The states suffered a commitment problem. They wished to cooperate with each other by founding a new republic, but feared the consequences of doing so: losing their freedom to a powerful government. The Second Amendment militated against the need for a large federal army, acted to counterbalance federal forces, and created the offensive means with which to confront a tyrannical government.

Author(s):  
Robert J. Antony

Chapter 5 analyzes local self-regulation and law enforcement efforts. In conjunction with government, local communities also devised various methods for their own security and self-defense. Despite the state’s efforts and accomplishments in reaching down into local communities, the countryside was too vast and populous for state agents to penetrate everywhere. Normally the government preferred not to intervene directly in local affairs, but rather, to do so only indirectly through community lecture (xiangyue) and mutual surveillance (baojia) agents. Occasionally, in times of crises, the state would intervene more directly, such as in cases of famine relief and the suppression of riots and rebellions, but more routine security matters were normally left to each individual community. Rural towns and villages adopted a number of strategies for self-protection against bandits, including walls and other fortifications, guardsmen units, crop-watching associations, and militia. Nonetheless, I also argue that there was a complicated mix of activities in local communities involving both protection and predation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Imas Novita Juaningsih

Abstrak Country can be said to be a state if elements of the state have been fulfilled. One of the most fundamental elements is the existence of the people. The existence of the people means that there are people who live and become subjects of government and enforced rules. Without rules, the consequence is that there will be a large number of crimes that cannot be overcome. Therefore criminal law exists to optimize a regulation and implementation in the community. In the constitution of the Indonesian state, there has been guaranteed the rights of everyone from the right to life, the right not to be tortured, the right to religion and human rights that cannot be reduced in any case. But with Article 81 A paragraph (3) of Law No. 17 of 2016 concerning the second amendment to Law No. 3 of 2002 concerning Child Protection. In this article the phrase the addition of basic crimes especially chemical castration punishment becomes a problem that causes controversy among the public. So the government needs to reconsider with regard to Article a quo by using preventive and repressive measures to address these problems.  The theory that author use is Law Enforcement along with the principles of das sein and das sollen. With normative research methods that are descriptive, and through a conceptual approach. So the author recommend that the application of chemical castration and rehabilitation as a form of treatment oriented to protect perpetrators and sexual crimes. 


2004 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 1087-1107 ◽  
Author(s):  
NOEL MAURER ◽  
ANDREI GOMBERG

All sovereign governments face a commitment problem: how can they promise to honor their own agreements? The standard solutions involve reputation or political institutions capable of tying the government's hands. Mexico's government in the 1880s used neither solution. It compensated its creditors by enabling them to extract rents from the rest of the economy. These rents came through special privileges over banking services and the right to administer federal taxes. Returns were extremely high: as long as the government refrained from confiscating all their assets (let alone repaying their debts) less than twice a decade, they would break even.


2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-199
Author(s):  
Themis Tzimas

Abstract The current article focuses on Events in the Middle East in relation to non-state actors and the right of self-defense. As study-case is adopted for Yemen, where the Houthis, as the de facto authority—and, according to their own standpoint as the de jure authority too—of the state, or at least large parts of it, declare that they exercise a right to self-defense against the Saudi-led intervention. The theme is examined in the context of protracted conflicts, which from non-international become internationalized armed conflicts, in states of fragmented authority and sovereignty. The argument is that while non-state actors (NSAs) do not autonomously possess a right of their own to self-defense, in cases involving states of fragmented authority and sovereignty they may exercise this right, on behalf of the state which is suffering the attack for as long as the government is not in a position to fulfill its responsibility regarding the defense of the state. The article does not advocate a contra legem interpretation of Article 51, expanding its application to non-state actors. It argues in favor of the substitution of the entity that is entitled to implement Article 51, when the government of a state is absent or incapable of carrying out its duties. It is in this sense that non-state actors are linked to the right of self-defense.


Author(s):  
Chiedza Simbo

Despite the recent enactment of the Zimbabwean Constitution which provides for the right to basic education, complaints, reminiscent of a failed basic education system, have marred the education system in Zimbabwe. Notwithstanding glaring violations of the right to basic education by the government, no person has taken the government to court for failure to comply with its section 75(1)(a) constitutional obligations, and neither has the government conceded any failures or wrongdoings. Two ultimate questions arise: Does the state know what compliance with section 75(1)(a) entails? And do the citizens know the scope and content of their rights as provided for by section 75(1)(a) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe? Whilst it is progressive that the Education Act of Zimbabwe as amended in 2020 has addressed some aspects relating to section 75(1)(a) of the Constitution, it has still not provided an international law compliant scope and content of the right to basic education neither have any clarifications been provided by the courts. Using an international law approach, this article suggests what the scope and content of section 75(1)(a) might be.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (10(79)) ◽  
pp. 12-18
Author(s):  
G. Bubyreva

The existing legislation determines the education as "an integral and focused process of teaching and upbringing, which represents a socially important value and shall be implemented so as to meet the interests of the individual, the family, the society and the state". However, even in this part, the meaning of the notion ‘socially significant benefit is not specified and allows for a wide range of interpretation [2]. Yet the more inconcrete is the answer to the question – "who and how should determine the interests of the individual, the family and even the state?" The national doctrine of education in the Russian Federation, which determined the goals of teaching and upbringing, the ways to attain them by means of the state policy regulating the field of education, the target achievements of the development of the educational system for the period up to 2025, approved by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of October 4, 2000 #751, was abrogated by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of March 29, 2014 #245 [7]. The new doctrine has not been developed so far. The RAE Academician A.B. Khutorsky believes that the absence of the national doctrine of education presents a threat to national security and a violation of the right of citizens to quality education. Accordingly, the teacher has to solve the problem of achieving the harmony of interests of the individual, the family, the society and the government on their own, which, however, judging by the officially published results, is the task that exceeds the abilities of the participants of the educational process.  The particular concern about the results of the patriotic upbringing served as a basis for the legislative initiative of the RF President V. V. Putin, who introduced the project of an amendment to the Law of RF "About Education of the Russian Federation" to the State Duma in 2020, regarding the quality of patriotic upbringing [3]. Patriotism, considered by the President of RF V. V. Putin as the only possible idea to unite the nation is "THE FEELING OF LOVE OF THE MOTHERLAND" and the readiness for every sacrifice and heroic deed for the sake of the interests of your Motherland. However, the practicing educators experience shortfalls in efficient methodologies of patriotic upbringing, which should let them bring up citizens, loving their Motherland more than themselves. The article is dedicated to solution to this problem based on the Value-sense paradigm of upbringing educational dynasty of the Kurbatovs [15].


Author(s):  
I. Mytrofanov

The article states that today the issues of the role (purpose) of criminal law, the structure of criminal law knowledge remain debatable. And at this time, questions arise: whose interests are protected by criminal law, is it able to ensure social justice, including the proportionality of the responsibility of the individual and the state for criminally illegal actions? The purpose of the article is to comprehend the problems of criminal law knowledge about the phenomena that shape the purpose of criminal law as a fair regulator of public relations, aimed primarily at restoring social justice for the victim, suspect (accused), society and the state, the proportionality of punishment and states for criminally illegal acts. The concepts of “crime” and “punishment” are discussed in science. As a result, there is no increase in knowledge, but an increase in its volume due to new definitions of existing criminal law phenomena. It is stated that the science of criminal law has not been able to explain the need for the concept of criminal law, as the role and name of this area is leveled to the framework terminology, which currently contains the categories of crime and punishment. Sometimes it is not even unreasonable to think that criminal law as an independent and meaningful concept does not exist or has not yet appeared. There was a custom to characterize this right as something derived from the main and most important branches of law, the criminal law of the rules of subsidiary and ancillary nature. Scholars do not consider criminal law, for example, as the right to self-defense. Although the right to self-defense is paramount and must first be guaranteed to a person who is almost always left alone with the offender, it is the least represented in law, developed in practice and available to criminal law subjects. Today, for example, there are no clear rules for the necessary protection of property rights or human freedoms. It is concluded that the science of criminal law should develop knowledge that will reveal not only the content of the subject of this branch of law, but will focus it on new properties to determine the illegality of acts and their consequences, exclude the possibility of using its means by legal entities against each other.


1977 ◽  
Vol 17 (192) ◽  
pp. 111-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Zorgbibe

“Whenever a large organized group believes it has the right to resist the sovereign power and considers itself capable of resorting to arms, war between the two parties should take place in the same manner as between nations…” This statement by de Vattel in the 19th century seemed destined to take its place as a part of positive law, constituting part of what was known as recognition of belligerency, tantamount to the recognition by the established government of an equal status for insurgents and regular belligerents. When a civil war became extensive enough, the State attacked would understand that it was wisest to acknowledge the existence of a state of war with part of the population. This would, at the same time, allow the conflict to be seen in a truer light. The unilateral action of the legal government in recognizing belligerency would be the condition for granting belligerent rights to the parties. It would constitute a demonstration of humanity on the part of the government of the State attacked and would also provide that government with prospects for effective pursuit of the war. By admitting that it was forced to resort to war, it would at least have its hands free to make war seriously.


2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (01) ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Michelle Kristina

The development of human life nowadays cannot be separated from various aspects such as economy, politics, and technology, including the impact of the coronavirus outbreak (Covid-19 or SARS-CoV-2) which emerged at the end of 2019. Responding to this Covid-19 pandemic outbreak In Indonesia, the government has issued various policies as measures to prevent and handle the spread of Covid-19. One of these policies is to limit community activities. These restrictions have implications for the fulfilment of the economic needs of the affected communities. Responding to the urgency of this community's economic situation, the government held a social assistance program as a measure to ease the community's economic burden. However, the procurement of the program was used as a chance for corruption involving the Ministry of Social Affairs and corporations as the winning bidders. This study uses a qualitative methodology with a normative juridical approach and literature. The approach is carried out by conducting a juridical analysis based on a case approach. The results of the study show that the corporations involved cannot be separated from corporate responsibility. However, the criminal liability process against the corporation is deemed not to reflect justice for the current situation of Indonesia is experiencing. The crime was not carried out in a normal situation but in a situation when Indonesia was trying hard to overcome the urgent situation, the Covid-19 pandemic. Corporate crimes committed by taking advantage of the pandemic situation are deemed necessary to prioritize special action or the weight of criminal acts committed by corporations. The weighting of criminal sanction is the right step as a law enforcement process for corporate crimes during the pandemic.


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