The Constitution, Politics, and Public Policy

2021 ◽  
pp. 228-244
Author(s):  
Eoin Carolan
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Constitutional Law ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Political Identity ◽  
Constitutional Rights ◽  
Political Bargaining ◽  
Public Media ◽  
Culture Influence ◽  
The Many ◽  
Constitutional Meaning

The chapter examines how constitutional law affects the nature of Irish politics and public policy. How has the Constitution, and its interpretation by the courts, influenced the choices made by the Oireachtas and by the executive in their approach to, and implementation of, public policy? The chapter argues that looking to the outcome of constitutional litigation alone provides an incomplete account of the many ways in which constitutional law and culture influence political action. Positing a more complex relationship between the constitution-as-law and the constitution-as-politics, the chapter describes how the Constitution has shaped civic and political identity in Ireland; and imposed limits on what is perceived as ‘permissible’ public policy. The chapter also explores how these limits are influenced by non-judicial actors engaged in constitutional interpretation; by public, media, or professional perceptions of constitutional meaning; and by the effects of constitutional rights provisions on power relations and political bargaining.

What’s Next for a National Infrastructure Policy: An Encore or a Requiem?

2021 ◽  
pp. 1087724X2110146
Author(s):  
Richard G. Little
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Infrastructure Systems ◽  
Infrastructure Policy ◽  
Policy Objectives ◽  
The Many ◽  
National Infrastructure ◽  
Roll Out

In an essay almost 30 years ago, Professor Dick Netzer of NYU asked the question “Do We Really Need a National Infrastructure Policy?” and came to the conclusion that we did not. As the Biden Administration prepares to roll out a multi-trillion dollar infrastructure package, the nation is faced with numerous questions regarding the infrastructure systems necessary to support continued economic growth and environmental sustainability. The purpose of this essay is to look to recent history for guidance for how to proceed by revisiting the underlying premises of the Netzer essay and reconsider whether a National Infrastructure Policy is needed. Because linking infrastructure to broader public policy objectives could both unite the nation and position it to address the many challenges that the 21st century will present, I believe the idea of a National Infrastructure Policy definitely deserves a second look.

Euroatlanske integracije i savremeni izazovi razvojne politike javnog komuniciranja u Bosni i Hercegovini

2017 ◽  
pp. 33-50
Author(s):  
Mirza Mehmedović
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Bosnia And Herzegovina ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Political Organization ◽  
Media Policy ◽  
Specific Information ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Public Media ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Many

In the middle of the second decade of the twenty-first century, Bosnia and Herzegovina is at the crossroads of political, economic and cultural revitalization of the society as a country that declarative aims for application of European principles of political organization and the membership in the European Union. On this way there are many open issues that are the result of twenty years of political and economic stagnation or collapse of all elements that should be the foundation for the stabilization of a modern democratic society in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The internal reconstruction of the political system and the revitalisation of the institutions of the government or different holders of political reforms means at the same time the fulfilment of the conditions of accession to Euro-Atlantic integration. The development of a unified media policy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the establishment of public media service in accordance with the requirements of the European Union and the interests of all citizens are the top issues among the many current challenges that we have to deal with in the future. But for Bosnia and Herzegovina it is not exclusively the interest of communicational research. It must be necessarily seen in the wider context as a political, cultural and economic issue, because the establishment of a single media/communication system is one of the key requirements for a political compromise, the integration of society and the harmonization of other common (primarily economic) interests for all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina. One of the key requirements for defining a unified media policy in Bosnia and Herzegovina is agreeing / reconciliation of all complex (heterogeneous) cultural characteristics, as well as the specific characteristics of modern communication situation in a model that would respond to the specific information needs of citizens and the standards applied by the European Union.

scholarly journals Aspectos relevantes del intento de reforma constitucional en Italia en la cuestión de procedimiento legislativo y fuentes primarias = Aspetti rilevanti della tentata riforma constituzionale in Italia in tema di procedimiento legislativo en fonti primarie = Relevant aspects of the constitutional reform attemp in Italy in the matter of legislative procedure and primary sources

2017 ◽  
pp. 67
Author(s):  
Tommaso Pensabene Lionti
Keyword(s):  
Constitutional Law ◽  
Legal Issues ◽  
Constitutional Reform ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
Legislative Process ◽  
Parliamentary System ◽  
El Sistema ◽  
Legislative Procedure ◽  
Constitutional System ◽  
The Many

<p>El 4 de diciembre de 2016 los italianos fueron llamados a participar, a través de la votación, en el <em>referéndum</em> concerniente una ley constitucional que (en caso de resultado positivo), habría modificado de manera radical el ordenamiento constitucional italiano. Entre las múltiples modificaciones que la reforma quería introducir, se enfocan lo significativos cambios que la misma habría producido en materia de procedimiento legislativo. En efecto, al final de la reforma, el sistema parlamentario italiano habría cambiado, transitando desde el llamado “bicameralismo paritario” hasta un sistema monocameral “asimétrico o diferenciado”. En consecuencia, habría cambiado el procedimiento legislativo, estructurándose en múltiples procedimientos, o variantes procedimentales, de los cuales se describe la disciplina, haciendo hincapié sobre algunos relevantes aspectos problemáticos. Se subraya, también, que la reforma, a través de la modificación del procedimiento legislativo, junto con la nueva disciplina constitucional de los decretos-leyes y de la nueva repartición de las competencias normativas entre el Estado y las Regiones, habría producido cambios importantes sobre las mismas características de las leyes y de los actos con fuerza de ley. En conclusión, se plantean las posibles razones, políticas y jurídicas, que han llevado al resultado negativo del <em>referendum</em> constitucional.</p><p>On December 4, 2016, Italians were called upon a <em>referendum</em> to approve a constitutional law that would (if successful) radically change the Italian constitutional system. Among the many changes that the reform intended to pursue, we are focusing on the significant changes it would bring in the legislative procedure. As a result of the reform, in fact, the Italian parliamentary system would be changed, passing from "bicameralism equal" to a "asymmetric or differentiated" monocameral system. Consequently, the legislative process would have changed, articulating into multiple procedures or procedural variants, of which the discipline is described, focusing on some relevant problematic profiles. It should also be noted that the reform, with the modification of the legislative procedure, together with the new constitutional discipline of the decree-law and the new division of normative competences between the State and the Regions, would have produced important changes in the features of laws and acts with force of law. Finally, we are questioning about the possible reasons, policies and legal issues, that have led to the negative outcome of the constitutional <em>referendum</em><em>.</em></p>

The many faces of hermes: The quality of participation experiences and political attitudes of migrant and non-migrant youth

Human Affairs ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Fernandes-Jesus ◽  
Carla Malafaia ◽  
Pedro Ferreira ◽  
Elvira Cicognani ◽  
Isabel Menezes
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Political Attitudes ◽  
Political Efficacy ◽  
Migrant Youth ◽  
The Many

AbstractThis paper intends to explore whether and how the quality of participation experiences is associated with political efficacy and the disposition of migrant and non-migrant young people to becoming involved. The sample includes 1010 young people of Portuguese, Angolan and Brazilian origin, aged between 15 and 29 years old. The results reveal that the quality of participation experiences is related to political efficacy and dispositions to becoming involved, but different groups seem to react differently to different forms of political action.

Who Decides?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey S. Sutton
Keyword(s):  
Constitutional Law ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
State Governments ◽  
Constitutional Rights ◽  
Individual Rights ◽  
Home Rule ◽  
Constitutional Protection ◽  
State Constitutions ◽  
Law And Politics ◽  
Federal Constitutional

The earlier book, 51 Imperfect Solutions, told stories about specific state and federal individual constitutional rights, and explained two benefits of American federalism: how two sources of constitutional protection for liberty and property rights could be valuable to individual freedom and how the state courts could be useful laboratories of innovation when it comes to the development of national constitutional rights. This book tells the other half of the story. Instead of focusing on state constitutional individual rights, it focuses on state constitutional structure. Everything in law and politics, including individual rights, eventually comes back to divisions of power and the evergreen question: Who decides? The goal of this book is to tell the structure side of the story and to identify the shifting balances of power revealed when one accounts for American constitutional law as opposed to just federal constitutional law. Who Decides? contains three main parts—one each on the judicial, executive, and legislative branches—as well as stand-alone chapters on home-rule issues raised by local governments and the benefits and burdens raised by the ease of amending state constitutions. A theme in the book is the increasingly stark divide between the ever-more-democratic nature of state governments and the ever-less-democratic nature of the federal government over time.

Public Policy Making and Public Policy Analysis

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee S. Friedman
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Policy Analysis ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
The United States ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Public Policy Analysis ◽  
Professional Class ◽  
The Many

This chapter reviews the development and growth of the policy-analytic profession. Historically, government decision makers have often called upon those with expertise to assist them in reaching their decisions. This chapter, however, concerns a new professional class of advisors that began developing during the 1950s in the United States. This new profession assists policy makers in understanding better their alternatives and relevant considerations for choosing among them. From here, the chapter offers some perspective on the research to date that has attempted to assess the effects of the profession—a perspective that emphasizes some important differences across the many types of governmental settings that utilize policy analysis, and the methodological difficulties that assessment efforts confront.

Advancing the Study of Comparative Public Policy

2019 ◽  
pp. 391-398
Author(s):  
Frank R. Baumgartner ◽  
Christian Breunig ◽  
Emiliano Grossman
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Political Behavior ◽  
Comparative Public Policy ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
The Many ◽  
Media Data

The concluding chapter emphasizes several central points and contributions of the book. It first provides a summary of the extent of the emerging infrastructure that the Comparative Agendas Project (CAP) has developed. It shows the many possibilities provided by this infrastructure, as illustrated by the comparative chapters in the volume. The chapter goes to discuss the achievements in terms of data collection and comparability. Finally, the chapter explores possible future directions of research for the CAP and, beyond, the field of comparative public policy. In particular, it could positively contribute to the study of the consequence of differences in bureaucratic structures. Similarly, the inclusion of media data has opened up new possibilities that have only just started to be explored. Finally, the study of “responsiveness” and its consequences for political behavior could also benefit from crossing, say, survey data with CAP data.

Bentham, Jeremy (1748–1832)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ross Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Property Rights ◽  
Constitutional Law ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Central Element ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
Natural Rights ◽  
Legal Rights ◽  
Jeremy Bentham ◽  
Good System ◽  
Primary Unit

Jeremy Bentham held that all human and political action could be analysed in terms of pleasure and pain, and so made comprehensible. One such analysis is how people actually do behave; according to Bentham, seeking pleasure and avoiding pain. Another such analysis is of how they ought to behave. For Bentham, this is that they should maximize utility, which for him is the same as producing the greatest happiness of the greatest number, which, again, is the same for him as maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain. His chief study was planning how there could be a good system of government and law; that is, how laws could be created so that people being as they actually are (seeking their own pleasure) might nevertheless do what they ought (seek the greatest pleasure of all). The instruments which government use in this task are punishment and reward, inducing action by threats and offers. For Bentham, punishment is done not for the sake of the offender, but to deter other people from doing the same kind of thing. Hence on his theory it is the apparent punishment which does all the good, the real punishment which does all the harm. Bentham thought that the primary unit of significance was the sentence, not the word. He used this idea to produce profound analyses of the nature of law and legal terms, such as’ right’, ‘duty’ or ‘property’. These are what he calls names of fictions – terms which do not directly correspond to real entities. However, this does not mean that they are meaningless. Instead, meaning can be given to them by translating sentences in which they occur into sentences in which they do not occur. Thus legal rights are understood in terms of legal duties, because sentences involving the former can be understood in terms of sentences involving the latter; these in turn can be analysed in terms of threats of punishment or, again, pleasure and pain. This gives sense to legal rights, but sense cannot be given in the same way to natural rights. For Bentham, we have no natural rights and the rights that we do have, such as property rights, are created by government, whose chief task is to protect them. Bentham also worked out how people could be protected from government itself, designing an elaborate system of constitutional law in which representative democracy was a central element. Bentham invented the word ‘international’, and when he died he had an international legal and political influence. His chief influence in philosophy has been as the most important historical exponent of a pure form of utilitarianism.

The Intersection of Transphobia, Human Rights, and Transgender Intimate Partner Violence

2020 ◽  
pp. 3-34
Author(s):  
Adam M. Messinger ◽  
Xavier L. Guadalupe-Diaz
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Transgender People ◽  
Prevalence Estimates ◽  
The World ◽  
The Many ◽  
Transgender Discrimination

Despite the alarming prevalence and consequences of intimate partner violence among transgender people (T-IPV), research, public policy, and service provision remains largely focused on cisgender IPV (C-IPV). Creating tailored societal responses for transgender survivors and abusers entails recognizing not only the similarities but particularly the differences between C-IPV and T-IPV. Research highlights numerous ways in which societal discrimination against transgender people uniquely shapes the causes, abusive tactics, and barriers to escape regarding T-IPV. In this sense, better understanding and addressing T-IPV necessitates acknowledging the extent of anti-transgender discrimination. This opening chapter introduces readers to the pressing issue of T-IPV by defining core terminology, reviewing prevalence estimates and outcomes, detailing the extent of interpersonal transphobia in the world and the dearth of transgender human rights protections, and discussing the many ways in which such discrimination fuels T-IPV. The chapter concludes with an overview of the book.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document