Chapter 7. American Exceptionalism, Popular Sovereignty, and the Rule of Law

2009 ◽  
pp. 198-222
Author(s):  
Paul W. Kahn
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
American Exceptionalism ◽  
Popular Sovereignty ◽  
The Rule Of Law

scholarly journals The Principle of Sovereignty as the Main Principle of Democracy, between the Political Pluralism and the Electoral System in the Parlamentary Republic of Albania

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 184
Author(s):  
Ismail Tafani ◽  
Darjel Sina
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Party System ◽  
Essential Element ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Fundamental Principle ◽  
Popular Sovereignty ◽  
Political Pluralism ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Constitutional Principle ◽  
Democratic Principle

Popular sovereignty is the foundation of the principle of democracy for the existence and functioning of the rule of law. In the Parliamentary Republic of Albania based on political pluralism for nearly three decades, this essential element of the democratic principle seems to be as fragile as the principle itself. The basic concept of the functionality of the rule of law in Albania under the Constitution is the separation and balancing of powers. Although the constitutional provision for the separation and balancing of powers is clear and based on Montesquieu’s conception of the development of the principle of democracy and the prohibition of abuse that each of the powers could inflict on each other, the separation and balancing of powers in Albania seems to be impossible. Albania as a country with a culture of not very long political pluralism, instead it comes from a rather long-term mono-party system where the development of the electoral process was more of a holiday than a race. However, the sovereignty of the people enshrined in today's constitution and yesterday's constitution seems more like a slogan than a fundamental principle of constitutional order. In these years of political pluralism between the test of many electoral systems coupled with constitutional and legal changes, the implementation of the principle of popular sovereignty to consolidate the democratic principle remains clearly a utopia for Albanian society. After each election process debates reopen the need for reforming the electoral system in general and managing the process in particular. The purpose of this paper through a comparative analysis is to identify the elements that impede the observance of the fundamental constitutional principle of popular sovereignty either directly or indirectly through elected representatives to consolidate the rule oflaw in Albania.

The People Shall Be Judge

2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 749-776 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Vatter
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
The State ◽  
Popular Sovereignty ◽  
Political Judgment ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The People ◽  
Civil Condition

This essay offers an interpretation of Kant’s republicanism in light of the problem of political judgment. Kant is sometimes thought to base his conception of law on an idea of sovereignty drawn from Hobbes and Rousseau, which would leave little room for popular contestation of the state. In this essay, I reconstruct Kant’s account of the rule of law by bringing out the importance of his theory of judgment. I argue that for Kant the civil condition is ultimately characterized by a contest between the judgment of the sovereign and the judgment of the people, which corresponds to the determinative and reflective employments of political judgment, respectively. On this view, popular sovereignty is ultimately located in the people’s power to judge politically and contest publicly the state.

scholarly journals IDEAS OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY IN THE CONSTITUTION OF KAZAKHSTAN AND THEIR IMPLEMENTATION

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khuandag Bazhay ◽  
Akhmet Bergengul
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
State Power ◽  
Popular Sovereignty ◽  
Legal Analysis ◽  
Social Harmony ◽  
National Unity ◽  
National Sovereignty ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The Creation

The article reveals Kazakhstan's model of implementation of the ideas of national sovereignty in the context of interethnic harmony, internal national unity and modernization of society in the Constitution. Comparative legal analysis of scientific conclusions related to the principles of the idea of popular sovereignty is carried out. The importance of strengthening state power and social harmony in the creation of a state governed by the rule of law is emphasized, logical conclusions and thoughts are summed up.

scholarly journals PENEGAKAN HUKUM KEPEMILUAN UNTUK PEMILU BERMARTABAT

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-86
Author(s):  
Junaidi Ahmad ◽  
Agmar Media
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
General Election ◽  
Popular Sovereignty ◽  
Modern State ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
General Elections ◽  
Right To Vote ◽  
The Absolute ◽  
The Right

The notion of popular sovereignty and the rule of law must go hand in hand. As a characteristic of a modern state, democracy is manifested through general elections with integrity. Law enforcement and election justices are the principles and formulas for elections with integrity. The independence of the organizing agency, transparency, and accountability will foster people's trust as the holder of the right to vote. Elections with integrity give birth to legitimacy for every representative elected in the voting booth. Maintaining the people's right to vote through law enforcement is the absolute responsibility of all stakeholders when the General Election takes place. Keywords:Law Enforcement, Election, Dignified

scholarly journals Populism and the Rule of Recognition

Populism ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Vasileios Adamidis
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Legal Positivism ◽  
Popular Sovereignty ◽  
Social Rule ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Legal Validity ◽  
The People ◽  
Concept Of Law

Abstract By reference to legal positivism and Hart’s Concept of Law, the paper argues that populism targets and aims to reconstruct the democratic rule of recognition. In particular, populism exploits the ambiguities in the nature of this social rule, by advocating the extension of the group whose consensus determines the criteria of legal validity from the restricted sphere of judges and officials, to the people at large. Populism instrumentalises the functions of the rule of recognition, aiming to provoke uncertainty in the system in order to accomplish a shift and, thus, alter the content of the rule. Infiltrating concepts with meanings that suit its ends and reordering the criteria of legal validity, populism prioritises an absolute form of popular sovereignty over a thin, dubious version of the rule of law. Nevertheless, the latter’s ambiguity allows populism to claim that the rule of law still forms part of its rule of recognition.

Anticolonial Constitutionalism: The Case of Hồ Chi Minh

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-221
Author(s):  
SON NGOC BUI
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Special Reference ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Popular Sovereignty ◽  
French Colonialism ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Constitutional Government ◽  
Colonial Government ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractHow is modern constitutionalism related to anticolonialism? This Article takes into account this question with a special reference to the case of Hồ Chi Minh. It argues that modern constitutionalism offers a powerful ideational and discursive weapon for the colonized people to struggle against colonialism. To understand this, the Article introduces the concept of ‘anticolonial constitutionalism’, defined as a form of political discourse in which anticolonialists employ the language and ideas of modern constitutionalism to combat the predatory colonial government and to express the aspirations to a constitutional government. Anticolonial constitutionalism emerges under three conditions, namely exploitatory and arbitrary colonialism, anticolonialism, and constitutional enlightenment. The case of Hồ Chí Minh illustrates this phenomenon well. When Vietnam was under French colonialism as a part of French Indochina during the first half of the twentieth century, Vietnamese anticolonialism was vehement, and different anticolonialists employed the language and ideas of constitutionalism to oppose the colonial government. One of them was Hồ Chí Minh, considered by many Vietnamese as the father and icon of the nation. A tremendously influential anticolonialist, he was enlightened with constitutionalist knowledge and employed key ideas of modern constitutionalism, namely a written constitution, the rule of law, popular sovereignty, and fundamental rights to struggle against French colonialism and to express such aspirations to a constitutional government in Vietnam. This study has implications for the trajectory of constitutionalism in contemporary Vietnam given the continuing influence of Hồ Chí Minh's constitutionalist discourse in the country nowadays. More generally, this study has implications for the relationship between constitutionalism and anticolonialism.

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