scholarly journals Spain’s Multinational Constitution: a Lost Opportunity?

2011 ◽  
Vol 17 (1, 2 & 3) ◽  
pp. 2008
Author(s):  
Antoni Abad i Ninet ◽  
Adrià Rodés Mateu
Keyword(s):  
Basque Country ◽  
The State ◽  
National Identities ◽  
Constitutional Development ◽  
Political Autonomy ◽  
Spanish Constitution ◽  
Lost Opportunity

The Spanish Constitution of 1978 provid- ed an opportunity for minority nationalities within Spain to achieve a degree of political au- tonomy not shared by others within the state. During the constituent process, the non-Span- ish speaking national communities of Catalonia and the Basque Country were the only political entities demanding political autonomy to ac- commodate their national identities in the new Constitution. Today, after thirty years of demo- cratic and constitutional development, we can see that the possibilities offered by the Spanish Constitution to recognize and accommodate the multinational character of the Spanish state have been lost. This article examines causes of this failure to take advantage of the possibilities provided by the Spanish Constitution to pro- vide for asymmetrical political autonomy for minority nationalities.

The Munich conference of Minister-Presidents of German lands in 1947

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (10-2) ◽  
pp. 86-98
Author(s):  
Ivan Popov
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
State Governments ◽  
The West ◽  
Constitutional Development ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The One

The paper deals with the organization and decisions of the conference of the Minister-Presidents of German lands in Munich on June 6-7, 1947, which became the one and only meeting of the heads of the state governments of the western and eastern occupation zones before the division of Germany. The conference was the first experience of national positioning of the regional elite and clearly demonstrated that by the middle of 1947, not only between the allies, but also among German politicians, the incompatibility of perspectives of further constitutional development was existent and all the basic conditions for the division of Germany became ripe. Munich was the last significant demonstration of this disunity and the moment of the final turn towards the three-zone orientation of the West German elite.

Explaining Peaceful Change in Central and Eastern Europe

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Tabachnik ◽  
Benjamin Miller
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
State Capacity ◽  
The State ◽  
National Identities ◽  
Great Power ◽  
Soviet System ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Independent Variables ◽  
Two Independent Variables

This chapter explains the process of peaceful change in Central and Eastern Europe following the demise of the Soviet system. It also explains the failure of peaceful change in the Balkans and some post-Soviet countries, such as the Ukrainian conflict in 2014. The chapter accounts for the conditions for peaceful change and for the variation between peaceful and violent change by the state-to-nation theory. The two independent variables suggested by the theory are the level of state capacity and congruence—namely the compatibility between state borders and the national identities of the countries at stake. Moreover, according to the theory, great-power engagement serves as an intervening variable and in some conditions, as explained in the chapter, may help with peaceful change.

Rag Doll Nations and the Politics of Differentiation on Arbitrary Borders: Karelia and Moldova*

2004 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 457-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Lawrence Schrad
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
The State ◽  
Ethnic Community ◽  
National Identities ◽  
The Other ◽  
Interesting Aspect ◽  
Territorial Boundaries ◽  
Shed Light

“Tell a man today to go and build a state,” Samuel Finer once stated, “and he will try to establish a definite and defensible boundary and compel those who live inside it to obey him.” While at best an oversimplification, Finer's insight illuminates an interesting aspect of state-society relations. Who is it that builds the state? How and where do they establish territorial boundaries, and how are those who live within that territory compelled to obey? Generally speaking, these are the questions that will be addressed here. Of more immediate concern is the fate of peoples located in regions where arbitrary land boundaries fall. Are they made loyal to the state through coercion or by their own compulsions? More importantly, how are their identities shaped by the efforts of the state to differentiate them from their compatriots on the other side of the borders? How is the shift from ethnic to national identities undertaken? A parallel elaboration of the national histories of the populations of Karelia and Moldova will shed light on these questions. The histories of each group are marked by a myriad of attempts to differentiate the identity of each ethnic community from their compatriots beyond the state's borders. The results of such overt, state-initiated efforts to differentiate borderland populations by encouraging a national identity at the expense of the ethnic, has ranged from the mundane to the tragic—from uneventful assimilation to persecution and even genocide. As an illustration of the range of possibilities and processes, I maintain that the tragedies of Karelia and Moldova are not exceptional, but rather are a consequence of their geographical straddling of arbitrary borders, and the need for the state to promote a distinctive national identity for these populations to differentiate them socially from their compatriots beyond the frontier.

Self-Help and the State: Rural Cooperatives in Imperial Germany

1988 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 244-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Peal
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
The State ◽  
Social Unit ◽  
Individual Property ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Political Autonomy ◽  
Freedom Of Contract ◽  
Local Resources ◽  
Village Life ◽  
Territorial States

The consolidation of territorial states in Central Europe undermined the local customs and institutions that had shaped village life since the Middle Ages. By the end of the eighteenth century unitary law codes overrode rural customs. By distinguishing between public and private law, these codes stripped the organized village community of legal substance. Police and judicial functions once performed within the community were assumed by bureaucrats, and the state meddled with the use of local resources by liberalizing marriage and residence laws. Deprived of political autonomy, the village did remain the core economic and social unit in rural life, controlling access to communal forests and enforcing the rules of three-field agriculture. In the middle decades of the nineteenth century this limited autonomy was undermined as well. Freedom of contract, security of individual property, free transmission of property between generations, and commercialization of landed property struck at the ability of villages to control their material world in customary ways.

scholarly journals La utilización de la bandera de España por las fuerzas y cuerpos de seguridad del Estado /Use of the Flag of Spain by the State Security Forces

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
pp. 137
Author(s):  
Javier Eiroa Escalada ◽  
Luis Toribio Castro
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
Public Safety ◽  
Spanish Literature ◽  
The State ◽  
Security Forces ◽  
State Security ◽  
Spanish Constitution ◽  
National Flag ◽  
The Military

Las banderas ya no tienen finalidad táctica, pero como símbolo de la nación, representan los valores superiores expresados en la Constitución de 1978.A diferencia de las Fuerzas Armadas, donde las banderas se mantienen como parte de las tradiciones, y aportan gran brillantez a los actos militares, en la literatura española existen pocos estudios relativos a la bandera en el ámbito de las fuerzas y cuerpos de seguridad del Estado.Tras un breve repaso a la normativa vigente en el ámbito de la Vexilología, este trabajo aborda el procedimiento para la concesión del derecho de uso de la enseña Nacional a distintas unidades de las fuerzas y cuerpos de seguridad de ámbito estatal, así como sus modalidades, uso y colocación en actos oficiales, honores y protocolo.Finalmente, se analizan las peculiaridades del ceremonial en el acto de entrega de la bandera, como distinción que se otorga en reconocimiento a la labor que desarrollan como garantes de las libertades públicas y de la seguridad ciudadana, considerando la distinta naturaleza -militar y civil- de ambos cuerpos de seguridad. _________________ The flags are no longer tactical, but as a symbol of the nation, they represent the higher values expressed in the Spanish Constitution of 1978.The Army has kept flags as part of the traditions, and provide great brilliance to the military acts. Instead, in Spanish literature there are few studies about the flag in the State Security Forces.After a brief review of current legislation in Vexillology, this paper deals with the procedure for bestowal of the use the National Flag to different units of the National Security Forces, as well as their modalities, use and placement in official events, honours and protocol.Finally, we analyze the peculiarities of ceremonial in the Act of delivery of the flag, as a distinction that is given in recognition of the work they perform as guarantors of citizen freedoms and public safety, considering the different nature - military and civil- of both security Forces.

scholarly journals NEW DIRECTIONS OF CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES (DYNAMICS OF THE LAST FIVE YEARS)

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 0-0
Author(s):  
Татьяна Масловская ◽  
Tatyana Maslovskaya
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Careful Attention ◽  
Present Stage ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Constitutional Development ◽  
The Past ◽  
Foreign Countries ◽  
New Directions ◽  
Constitutional Reforms ◽  
Constitutional Changes

The article analyzes the conditions of the constitutional reforms in foreign countries, the goal of constitutional changes at the present stage. Attention is paid to popularity of practice of adopting of interim constitutions. We study the full and partial constitutional reforms passed in foreign countries over the past five years. Provide new directions of constitutional reforms, based on modern challenges. Careful attention is paid to analysis of constitutional reforms as a response to the crisis: a crisis of values in society and the state, the security crisis. Subject to review are new constitutions of the XXI century, as well as draft constitutional laws. Provided the tendency of strengthening the state’s position in order to protect national interests. The author attempts to envisage further constitutional development in foreign countries.

scholarly journals Negotiating Conflict: Regional and National Identities in Contemporary Pakistani Fiction in English

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (I) ◽  
pp. 1-13
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Present Article ◽  
The State ◽  
National Identities ◽  
Marginal Groups ◽  
Bapsi Sidhwa ◽  
Critical Attention ◽  
Politics Of Religion ◽  
Language And Ethnicity

Pakistan has frequently been viewed as a stronghold of Islamic radicals, often overlooking the fact that various trends of both dormant and obvious conflicts exist between the politics of religion and region. Whereas the former is mainly controlled by the state, the latter is generally influenced by language and ethnicity. The state’s monolithic notion of national identity, from the country’s birth in 1947 to the present, has overshadowed the regional identities mainly the Pashtuns, Baluchis, and Sindhis, and disregarded the minority credos such as Shias, Parsis, Ahmadis, Hindus, and Christians. The present article aims to explore how contemporary Pakistani fiction in English spotlights images of a fragmented national self, underlining plights of the aforementioned marginal groups and exhibiting strong resistance to hidebound national identity. Reviewing contemporary Pakistani fiction in English with a particular focus on the fiction of Bapsi Sidhwa, Sara Suleri, Kamila Shamsie, Nadeem Aslam, Bina Shah, and Jamil Ahmad, this paper aims to bring critical attention of the scholars to the socio-cultural and political valuation of the regional identities.

Descentralización y derechos de los ciudadanos: la tensión entre igualdad y autonomía política en el modelo italiano

2015 ◽  
pp. 131-169
Author(s):  
Miguel Ángel CABELLOS ESPIÉRREZ
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Political Autonomy ◽  
Political Decentralization ◽  
Compound State ◽  
Homogeneous Area ◽  
Italian Constitution

LABURPENA: Estatu konposatuetan beharrezkotzat jotzen dute zehaztea zer eragin daukan deszentralizazio politikoak lurraldeko hizkuntz eskubideen aintzatespenean, eskubide horietan nolabaiteko aniztasuna finkatuta, eta noiz den aniztasun hori berdintasun-eskakizunaren aurkakoa, estatu konposatu guztien oinarrian baitago. Era horretako estatuetan, eskumenak banatzeko sistemek bide desberdinak erabiltzen dituzte oreka zail horri ekitean; bide horietako bat da estatuari eskumena ematea eskubideetako batzuk estatuaren lurralde osoan era homogeneoan arautzeko, eta, horrela, autonomia politikotik eratortzen den aniztasuna eremu homogeneo horretatik kanpo bakarrik izan daiteke, eta inola ere ez eremu horren barruan. Teknika horren adibide argia daukagu Espainian 149.1.1 CE artikuluan, eta adibiderik berriena Italiako Konstituzioaren 117.II.m) artikuluan dago, hain zuzen ere, lan honetan aztertuko dena. RESUMEN: En los Estados compuestos se plantea la necesidad de determinar hasta qué punto la descentralización política puede influir en el reconocimiento de derechos a lo largo del territorio, determinando un cierto elemento de variedad en el contenido de estos, y cuándo tal variedad resultaría contraria a la exigencia de igualdad que debe hallarse también en la base de todo Estado compuesto. Los sistemas de distribución competencial en estos Estados abordan este complejo equilibrio mediante diferentes técnicas, una de las cuales consiste en otorgar al Estado una competencia para regular una parte de los derechos con carácter homogéneo en todo el territorio estatal, de modo que la variedad derivada de la autonomía política solo sea posible más allá de esa zona homogénea, pero no dentro de ella. De esta técnica, de la que en España tenemos un ejemplo evidente en el art. 149.1.1 CE, el exponente más reciente en el tiempo es el art. 117.II.m) de la Constitución italiana, que es el objeto de análisis de este trabajo. ABSTRACT: In the compound States it’s necessary to set to what extent political decentralization may influence the recognition of rights over the territory, determining a CErtain element of variety in the content of these, and when such a variety would be contrary to the requirement of equality, that must also be on the basis of all compound State. The systems of distribution of competences in these States address this complex balance using different techniques, one of which is to give the State a power to regulate in an uniform way a part of the rights, so the variety derived from political autonomy will be possible only beyond that homogeneous area but not within it. In Spain we have a clear example of this technique in art. 149.1.1 CE, and the latest exponent in time of this way is art. 117. II.m) of the Italian Constitution, which is the object of analysis of this work.

LESS DIVIDED AFTER ETA? THE EVOLUTION OF IDEOLOGICAL CLEAVAGES IN THE BASQUE ENVIRONMENTAL FIELD, 2007–2017

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-236
Author(s):  
Alejandro Ciordia
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Political Violence ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Strong Influence ◽  
Basque Country ◽  
Political Community ◽  
National Identities ◽  
Network Analyses ◽  
Civic Organizations

The Basque Country has traditionally been considered a strongly polarized political community. The influence of the center-periphery cleavage and the shadow of political violence have conditioned many aspects of social life, including relations among civic organizations. Previous literature suggests that differences in organizations’ national identities and/or position towards ETA’s (Euskadi ta Askatasuna, or Basque Country and Freedom in the Basque language) violence have often acted as cleavages fragmenting collective action fields. This research examines whether this picture changed substantially after ETA’s abandonment of violence in 2011 by taking the environmental field as a case study and looking at the evolution of patterns of interorganizational collaboration between 2007 and 2017. The results of statistical network analyses show that both Basque nationalism and ideological positions towards ETA’s use of violence had a strong influence on organizations’ decisions to collaborate with one another up to 2011, whereas during the more recent postconflict period, collaboration seems to occur in a more pluralistic and less ideologically driven fashion.

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