Democracy and Abusive Constitutional Change

2021 ◽  
pp. 23-35
Author(s):  
Rosalind Dixon ◽  
David Landau
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Constitutional Amendment ◽  
Strong Tendency ◽  
Constitutional Change ◽  
Recent Experience ◽  
Complex Relationship ◽  
Global Consensus ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Intentional Attack

This chapter defines abusive constitutional change as an intentional attack on the democratic minimum core, or a minimalist, electorally focused definition of democracy familiar from recent work in law and political science. The advantage of using a yardstick for abuse that is a relatively thin, electoral version of democracy is that it avoids engaging more contestable commitments and thus enjoys a higher degree of global consensus. The chapter also distinguishes democracy from liberalism and explores the complex relationship between the two concepts. There is a theoretical tension between democracy and liberalism, although recent experience has suggested a strong tendency for them to erode together. Finally, the chapter explains the main forms of abusive constitutional change—formal constitutional amendment and replacement, sub-constitutional change through the passage of new legislation, and informal methods of change such as judicial reinterpretation. Most recent experiences with democratic erosion rely on a broad mix of these methods.

Activism and Popular Constitutionalism in Contemporary Vietnam

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (03) ◽  
pp. 677-710 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bui Son ◽  
Pip Nicholson
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Constitutional Reform ◽  
Law And Society ◽  
Constitutional Amendment ◽  
The Political ◽  
Constitutional Change ◽  
History Of ◽  
Constitutional Analysis ◽  
Popular Constitutionalism

Based on Chinese constitutional analysis, political science, and law and society studies, we argue that work extending the application of popular constitutionalism to authoritarian states applies in Vietnam, as popular constitutionalism targets sites relevant to constitutional reform. We contend that popular constitutionalism located in authoritarian states requires three factors: a tradition of activism, space for reformist and pragmatic dialogue targeting constitutional change, and the political need for legitimacy. This article analyses activism in Vietnam, focusing on the lodging of Petition 72 with the Constitutional Amendment Drafting Commission in 2013, and the resulting responses. We conclude that this activism was pivotal in advocating for new constitutional norms, evidencing popular constitutionalism in Vietnam. The long history of Vietnamese scholar activism, the relative space for governance debates, and the political need for legitimacy made this possible. We also note that popular constitutionalism faces constraints in authoritarian states, which may shape its trajectory.

Two Theories of Effective Government

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Lindvall
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Public Policies ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Precise Definition ◽  
Policy Changes ◽  
Political Decision ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter introduces the problem of “reform capacity” (the ability of political decision-makers to adopt and implement policy changes that benefit society as a whole, by adjusting public policies to changing economic, social, and political circumstances). The chapter also reviews the long-standing discussion in political science about the relationship between political institutions and effective government. Furthermore, the chapter explains why the possibility of compensation matters greatly for the politics of reform; provides a precise definition of the concept of reform capacity; describes the book's general approach to this problem; and discusses the ethics of compensating losers from reform; and presents the book's methodological approach.

scholarly journals Irlanda : reforma constitucional versus convención constitucional : análisis del déjà vu de Irlanda desde la perspectiva de la reforma constituciónal española

2012 ◽  
pp. 411
Author(s):  
Esther Villadangos Seijas
Keyword(s):  
Sovereign Debt ◽  
Political System ◽  
Debt Crisis ◽  
Constitutional Amendment ◽  
Constitutional Change ◽  
Constitutional Convention ◽  
The Public ◽  
Doing Business ◽  
Regulatory Systems ◽  
Full Force

El presente artículo se centra en el estudio de la gestación de la crisis económica en Irlanda y en el análisis de las respuestas constitucionales a la misma. En primer lugar se analiza el papel de la reforma constitucional, estudiando el mecanismo diseñado en los arts. 46 y 47 de la Constitución. El carácter preceptivo del referéndum ha reforzado la implicación social en un total de 23 reformas aprobadas hasta la fecha. De especial trascendencia, como reacciones constitucionales ante el contexto de crisis, podemos destacar la reforma de 2011 relativa a la reducción del salario de los jueces y la afrontada en 2012, como consecuencia de la ratificación del Tratado de Estabilidad. Un segundo contenido de este trabajo expone una «relativa» novedad en el panorama constitucional, la de la Convención Constitucional. Concebida como un órgano deliberativo y participativo, estamos ante un mecanismo que trata de paliar una común demanda de las democracias actuales de fomentar la participación social como complemento a las limitaciones de los cauces parlamentarios tradicionales, subyugados a demasiadas lealtades, partidistas, endogámicas que impiden el ejercicio de sus funcione de canalización de la voluntad popular en el seguimiento de los asuntos públicos.This article focusses on Irish answers to the economic crisis. The full force of the sovereign debt crisis has been affected Ireland from 2008. The failures in the policy-making and regulatory systems have caused a critical eye on traditional ways of doing business in the political system and the public service. The paths that Ireland has followed are two. First, the constitutional amendment mechanism. It pays attention to constitutional precepts that ruler this constitutional reform, mainly articles 46 and 47. The referendum has developed a key element in this system. Ireland has developed 23 constitutional reforms nowadays. The second important element is a Constitutional Convention. This body will allow a group of randomly selected citizens to deliberate and make recommendations upon a number of areas of political reform. Many of the changes envisaged offers an space for reflection about the viability of a macro political and constitutional change strategy that the bailout require.

Hobbes's Behemoth and the Argument for Absolutism

1982 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 837-847 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert P. Kraynak
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Civil War ◽  
Political Science ◽  
English Civil War ◽  
Civil Strife ◽  
Human Choice ◽  
Psychological Analysis ◽  
History Of ◽  
Definition Of

Hobbes's history of the English Civil War, The Behemoth, has been neglected by contemporary scholars, yet it provides the clearest statement of the problem that Hobbes's political science is designed to solve. In Behemoth, Hobbes shows that societies such as seventeenth century England inevitably degenerate into civil war because they are founded on authoritative opinion. The claim that there is a single, authoritative definition of Tightness or truth which is not an arbitrary human choice is an illusion of “intellectual vainglory,” a feeling of pride in the superiority of one's opinions which causes persecution and civil strife. By presenting Hobbes's historical and psychological analysis of this problem, I illuminate his argument for absolutism and show that Hobbes is not a precursor of totalitarianism but a founder of liberalism.

Toward a Theory of Constitutional Amendment

1994 ◽  
Vol 88 (2) ◽  
pp. 355-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald S. Lutz
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Empirical Analysis ◽  
Constitutional Amendment ◽  
Constitutional Design ◽  
Empirical Verification ◽  
American States ◽  
Key Variables ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Cross National

Constitutional design proceeds under the assumption that institutions have predictable consequences, but modern political science has not pursued the empirical verification of these predicted consequences with much vigor. I shall attempt to link the theoretical premises underlying one important aspect of constitutional design, the amendment process, with the empirical patterns revealed by a systematic, comparative study of constitutions. An examination of all amendments in the 50 American states since 1776 reveals patterns that are then confirmed using data from 32 national constitutions. The interaction of the two key variables affecting amendment rate can be described by an equation that generates predicted amendment rates close to those found in the cross-national empirical analysis. A constitution's length measured in number of words, the difficulty of an amendment process, and the rate of amendment turn out to have interlocking consequences that illuminate principles of constitutional design.

scholarly journals Historical Disparities and Gendered Citation Patterns

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 338-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. M. Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Citation Data ◽  
Science Methodology ◽  
Social Science Methodology ◽  
Over Time

In this comment on Dion, Sumner, and Mitchell’s article “Gendered Citation Patterns across Political Science and Social Science Methodology Fields,” I explore the role of changes in the disparities of citations to work written by women over time. Breaking down their citation data by era, I find that some of the patterns in citations are the result of the legacy of disparity in the field. Citations to more recent work come closer to matching the distribution of the gender of authors of published work. Although the need for more equitable practices of citation remains, the overall patterns are not quite as bad as Dion, Sumner, and Mitchell conclude.

A note on Riesz potential

1951 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 436-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. C. Auluck ◽  
L. S. Kothari
Keyword(s):  
Electromagnetic Field ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Quantum Electrodynamics ◽  
Fourier Expansion ◽  
Riesz Potential ◽  
Arbitrary Parameter ◽  
Electromagnetic Potentials ◽  
Longitudinal Part ◽  
Definition Of

The object of the present paper is to discuss the Fourier expansion of the Riesz potential. For this purpose a new definition of the electromagnetic potentials, depending upon an arbitrary parameter α is given. It is shown that this definition is a generalization of the Wentzel potentials in the α-plane, whereas that given by Fremberg (3) is a generalization of the Maxwell potentials. The analysis is applied to the problem of eliminating, in a straightforward way, the longitudinal part of the potential describing the electromagnetic field. The problem of the quantization of the field, based on its Fourier expansion, will be considered in another paper. The recent work of Tomonaga, Schwinger and Dyson, and the regularization process of Pauli has lifted the theory of quantum electrodynamics to a much higher level of rigour and fruitful applicability. All the same, a further study of Riesz potential seems to us of some interest in this field.

The regional dimensions of state failure

2010 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 951-972 ◽  
Author(s):  
STEFAN WOLFF
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Analytical Model ◽  
International Security ◽  
State Failure ◽  
The Political ◽  
Policy Debate ◽  
Empirical Observation ◽  
Policy Debates ◽  
Definition Of

AbstractThe academic and policy debate on state failure reaches back to the early 1990s. Since then, its empirical and analytical sophistication has grown, yet the fact that state failure is a regional phenomenon, that is, that it occurs in clusters of geographically contiguous states, has largely been overlooked. This article first considers the academic and policy debates on state failure in the Political Science/International Relations and Development Studies literatures, and offers a definition of state failure that is derived from the means of the state, rather than its ends. Subsequently engaging with existing scholarship on the concept of ‘region’ in international security, the article develops a definition of ‘state failure regions’. Further empirical observation of such regions and additional conceptual reflections lead to establishing an analytical model for the study of state failure regions and allow indentifying a number of concrete gains in knowledge and understanding that can result from its application.

Graded Causation and Normality

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Y. Halpern
Keyword(s):  
Recent Work ◽  
Experimental Philosophy ◽  
Actual Causation ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Better Than

Recent work in psychology and experimental philosophy has shown that judgments of actual causation are often influenced by consideration of defaults, typicality, and normality. This chapter shows the definition of causality introduced in Chapter 2 can be extended to defaults, typicality, and normality into account. The resulting framework takes actual causation to be both graded and comparative. Thus, it allows us to say that one cause is better than another. Examples showing the power of the approach are considered.

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