Against the Democratic Objection

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitrios Kyritsis
Keyword(s):  
Small Group ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
Equal Weight ◽  
Political Equality ◽  
Constitutional Review ◽  
The Right ◽  
Political Decisions

This chapter critically examines sceptical views about constitutional review of primary legislation. Sceptics argue that constitutional review is illegitimate because it negates political equality. Political equality requires that political decisions be made following procedures that give every citizen’s view equal weight. But constitutional review gives a small group of unelected officials the power to overrule the decisions of democratically accountable legislators. Against the sceptics it is argued that they ignore the significant imbalance of power that exists between elected legislators and the citizens they represent. The former have the power to decide according to their own independent judgment of what is the right thing to do. They act as trustees, not proxies, of their constituents. If we do not object to representative democracy of the kind we are familiar with, we cannot object to constitutional review in the name of political equality.

Constitutional Review in Representative Democracy

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitrios Kyritsis
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Design ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
Political Equality ◽  
Valuable Contribution ◽  
Democratic Representation ◽  
Constitutional Review ◽  
Popular Support ◽  
Legislative Initiative

The legitimacy of constitutional review of legislation depends on a proper appreciation of the contributions of courts and the legislature in the project of governing. This chapter argues that legislatures rightly have the initiative in this project, because the role of legislators is structured so as to enable them to combine the demands of popular support and moral innovation. This, and not political equality, is the value of democratic representation. Giving legislatures the initiative, however, does not mean giving them the last word. In addition, legislative initiative comes with grave risks, which institutional design must try to avert. By virtue of their independence, courts are well-equipped to check those risks. At the same time, judicial supervision is compatible with the legislature’s valuable contribution. Whether under a system of strong or weak constitutional review, courts can remain subsidiary to the legislature.

Political Equality and the Disenfranchisement of People with Intellectual Impairments

2007 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ludvig Beckman
Keyword(s):  
Equal Weight ◽  
Political Equality ◽  
National Elections ◽  
Right To Vote ◽  
The Right ◽  
Democratic Elections

In most democratic countries people with intellectual impairments are denied the right to vote in national elections. One important reason for this is that they are perceived as incapable of making independent political judgements and may thus fail to vote on the basis of their own preferences. Their exclusion is consequently defended by appeal to the need to protect the ‘integrity’ of democratic elections. In this article, this assertion is critically examined. The conclusion is that this argument does not hold sway once the connections between political equality and democratic elections have been clarified. Whilst political equality requires that elections are fair in the sense that everyone's preferences are given equal weight, fundamentally political equality also requires that everyone's opportunity to vote securely and without undue interference from others is recognised. Hence, as long as such opportunities have not been granted to people with intellectual impairments, they cannot consistently be excluded by appeal to the values of political equality.

Confucian Perfectionism

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Chan
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Civil Liberties ◽  
Moral Rights ◽  
Democratic Institutions ◽  
Political Equality ◽  
Philosophical Foundations ◽  
Liberal Conception ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Conception Of The Good ◽  
The Right

Since the very beginning, Confucianism has been troubled by a serious gap between its political ideals and the reality of societal circumstances. Contemporary Confucians must develop a viable method of governance that can retain the spirit of the Confucian ideal while tackling problems arising from nonideal modern situations. The best way to meet this challenge, this book argues, is to adopt liberal democratic institutions that are shaped by the Confucian conception of the good rather than the liberal conception of the right. The book examines and reconstructs both Confucian political thought and liberal democratic institutions, blending them to form a new Confucian political philosophy. The book decouples liberal democratic institutions from their popular liberal philosophical foundations in fundamental moral rights, such as popular sovereignty, political equality, and individual sovereignty. Instead, it grounds them on Confucian principles and redefines their roles and functions, thus mixing Confucianism with liberal democratic institutions in a way that strengthens both. The book then explores the implications of this new yet traditional political philosophy for fundamental issues in modern politics, including authority, democracy, human rights, civil liberties, and social justice. The book critically reconfigures the Confucian political philosophy of the classical period for the contemporary era.

THE DĒMOS IN DĒMOKRATIA

2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Cammack
Keyword(s):  
Political Society ◽  
Political Equality ◽  
The People ◽  
Leaders And Followers ◽  
Governing Principle ◽  
Human Autonomy ◽  
Self Rule ◽  
City State ◽  
The Right ◽  
Individual Human

The meaning of dēmokratia is widely agreed: ‘rule by the people’ (less often ‘people-power’), where dēmos, ‘people’, implies ‘entire citizen body’, synonymous with polis, ‘city-state’, or πάντες πολίται, ‘all citizens’. Dēmos, on this understanding, comprised rich and poor, leaders and followers, mass and elite alike. As such, dēmokratia is interpreted as constituting a sharp rupture from previous political regimes. Rule by one man or by a few had meant the domination of one part of the community over the rest, but dēmokratia, it is said, implied self-rule, and with it the dissolution of the very distinction between ruler and ruled. Its governing principle was the formal political equality of all citizens. In the words of W.G. Forrest, between 750 and 450 b.c. there had developed ‘the idea of individual human autonomy … the idea that all members of a political society are free and equal, that everyone had the right to an equal say in determining the structure and the activities of his society’.

Amendment of the Contravention Code or Defiance of the Constitution by the Exceptional Situations Commission?

2021 ◽  
pp. 56-65
Author(s):  
Iulian Rusanovschi ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
The State ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
State Of Emergency ◽  
Constitutional Review ◽  
Republic Of Moldova ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Right ◽  
Epidemiological Situation

On 17.03.2020, the Parliament declared a state of emergency on the entire territory of the Republic of Moldova for the period March 17 - May 15, 2020. By the same Decision, the Parliament delegated the Commission for Exceptional Situations with the right to implement a series of measures to overcome the epidemiological situation in the country. However, in the conditions of a functioning Parliament and despite the clear and exhaustive texts of the Constitution, the Commission for Exceptional Situations amended during the state of emergency the Contravention Code, which is an organic law. The amendments specifically concerned the procedure and terms for examining infringement cases brought in connection with non-compliance with the measures adopted by the Commission for Exceptional Situations and the Extraordinary Commission for Public Health. In the conditions in which an organic law can be modified only by the Parliament, it is obvious the unconstitutionality, at least partial, of the Disposition no. 4 of 24.03.2020 of the Commission for Exceptional Situations, but unfortunately, the Constitutional Court is not mandated with the right to submit to constitutional review the normative acts adopted by the Commission for Exceptional Situations. Under these conditions, the state is obliged to identify solutions in order not to allow an authority to adopt unconstitutional normative acts that cannot be subject to constitutional review.

scholarly journals The Development Of Modules Based On Problem Solving with Mind Map About Blood Circulation System Material for Students Class VIII Junior High School

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Salmi Halen ◽  
Lufri Lufri ◽  
Dwi Hilda Putri
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Small Group ◽  
Junior High School ◽  
Circulatory System ◽  
Development Stage ◽  
Circulation System ◽  
Practice Test ◽  
Blood Circulation System ◽  
Class Viii ◽  
The Right

The implementation of the 2013 Curriculum is to create a creative and innovative person. One of the right approaches is Problem Solving. Circulatory system material is the material that suits the problem solving approach. Less varied teaching materials will make the learning process becomes monotonous so that learners are not interested to learn. Therefore, a research aimed to produce problem-based solving module with mind map of circulatory system material for students of class VIII SMP.This research is a development research using development procedure from Plomp with three stages: initial investigation stage, development stage or prototype, and assessment phase. The object of this research is problem solving module minded mind map, and the subject of research is teachers and learners SMPN 15 Padang.Validity results obtained an average of 86.46% with valid criteria. The results of small group practice test (small group) obtained an average of 100% very practical category. Modular practicality test obtained an average result of 83.33% with practical category, while learners of 79.32% with practical category. It can be concluded that problem solving module with mind map about circulation system material for students of class VIII SMP has been valid and practical.

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