scholarly journals The Role of Law in the Social and Political Life of the Ukrainian Cossack State (Second Half of the 17th–18th centuries)

2019 ◽  
pp. 21-32
Author(s):  
Nadiia STENGACH
Keyword(s):  
Local Governments ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Left Bank ◽  
Political Aspect ◽  
Legal Norms ◽  
Court Proceedings ◽  
The Right

Among the regulatory and communicative mechanisms of power establishment in the Ukrainian Cossack state is the leading propensity for legal solution of social and political issues — both in the environment of the elite and between the elite and subordinate strata. In the context of court proceedings, it is necessary to highlight the tendency to ensure adversarial process between the plaintiff and the defendant, to create the respondent’s conditions for defense, to direct the court’s work not only to punish, but also to restore justice, to judge impartially and collectively. All this meant rejection of Russian legal norms, which legitimized the «right of the strong». The focus on the impassive legal process was extrapolated to manifestations of both domestic and foreign policy. First of all, this was reflected in the rejection of political actions based on military pressure and coercion, which were recognized as illegitimate ones. In the domestic political aspect, there was the emphasized trend towards constitutional methods of regulating public life. In particular, state institutions purposefully created legal norms in those spheres of public activity where tradition was no longer able to regulate them. In the political and cultural life of the Cossacks’ elite, we also see a clearly defined tendency to regulate legally relations between the participants of the political process. The views formed within such limits denied arbitrariness as a method of solving social and legal problems. However, it should be noted that within the framework of judicial and legal practice of the time, such notions were practically not implemented. The institutional mechanisms of state decision making evolved from the General Council to the Council of General Officer Staff, and then to the representative institution of Ukrainian society — the Sejm. In the evolution of mechanisms for administrative positions, there is a clear tendency to oust the election process and replace it with kinship and clientela relations within the Cossacks’ elite. Nevertheless, the electorate tendencies in the Cossack class remained at the lowest levels of the administrative hierarchy until the decay of the Ukrainian Cossack state. This was due to the fact that the political elite of Hetmanshchyna resisted Russian attempts to interfere with the filling of state posts in Left Bank Ukraine, as well as due to the confrontation of officer groups for dominance over local governments. With the acceptance of ideas of the nobles’ republic by the General Officer Staff, we observe a new strengthening of the electorate institution. Asserting power among representatives of their own social class, the Cossacks’ elite tended to maintain a balance between encouragement and punishment. As for the subordinate classes, the propensity to use punishment and coercion was much more pronounced. There was, however, a marked tendency towards the legislative regulation of the force use. At the political and cultural level, arbitrariness had never been recognized as the lawful actions. Besides, it was not necessary for the Cossacks’ elite to resort to violence to persuade; the pressure of public opinion often was enough.

Electoral system as a motivation to reforming political system- The Iraqi model

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shamall Ahmad
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Political Reform ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Electoral Laws ◽  
The Masses

The flaws and major flaws in the political systems represent one of the main motives that push the political elite towards making fundamental reforms, especially if those reforms have become necessary matters so that: Postponing them or achieving them affects the survival of the system and the political entity. Thus, repair is an internal cumulative process. It is cumulative based on the accumulated experience of the historical experience of the same political elite that decided to carry out reforms, and it is also an internal process because the decision to reform comes from the political elite that run the political process. There is no doubt that one means of political reform is to push the masses towards participation in political life. Changing the electoral system, through electoral laws issued by the legislative establishment, may be the beginning of political reform (or vice versa), taking into account the uncertainty of the political process, especially in societies that suffer from the decline of democratic values, represented by the processes of election from one cycle to another. Based on the foregoing, this paper seeks to analyze the relationship between the Electoral and political system, in particular, tracking and studying the Iraqi experience from the first parliamentary session until the issuance of the Election Law No. (9) for the year (2020).

The French Contract Law Reform and the Political Process

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bénédicte Fauvarque-Cosson
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Contract Law ◽  
First Century ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
The Political ◽  
Legal Certainty ◽  
The Right ◽  
Code Civil

AbstractThis paper provides an overview of the political process which led to the adoption of one of the most important reforms of the Code civil since 1804. This major revision of the French Code civil took place by way of an ‘ordonnance’ (delegated legislation). That, in itself, was highly controversial. As regards substance, the most controversial points related to the need to strike a new balance between contractual justice and legal certainty in French contract law to make it better suited to economic and social life in the twenty-first century. The French contract law reform began at the instigation of President Chirac, was continued under Sarkozy’s presidency and was finally completed while François Hollande was the President of France. This background might suggest that, from a political standpoint, the new provisions of the Code civil successfully struck the right balance between legal certainty and contractual justice; if only political life were so simple. As will be shown in the second part of this paper, many questions remain open. The first part recounts the story behind the reform, from its origins to its completion. The second part gives some further insight into some emblematic new provisions of the Code civil.

A Gender Perspective on Electoral Processes in Malawi: The Right of Malawian Women to Participate in the Political Process under the Maputo Protocol

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Annika Rudman ◽  
Theodora Mkali
Keyword(s):  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Gender Perspective ◽  
Playing Field ◽  
Legal Obligations ◽  
African Charter ◽  
The Right

Against the background of recent political developments in Malawi, this article provides a gender perspective on Malawian women’s participation in political life. It focuses on the position of women as candidates for political office and explores what determines women’s positioning, the hurdles that exist in their path when entering the political domain and, correspondingly, the obligations that the state has to level the playing field to overcome such hurdles. As a point of departure, it is proposed that Malawi, which since the coming into force of the 1994 Constitution is democratically organised, cannot be deemed fully democratic and legitimate if women and men do not have an equal opportunity to serve their communities through parliamentary representation. Malawi has ratified the African Charter, the Maputo Protocol and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance. Therefore, it is bound by a multitude of international provisions which promote and protect democracy and women’s rights to political participation. The objective of this article is to analyse how effective the Malawian government has been in implementing women’s political rights as guaranteed under regional human rights law. Using the method of positionality to unveil discrimination and disadvantage, the authors’ arguments presented in this article depart from the idea that internal change can be grounded on legal interventions which implement the legal obligations set out in the African Charter, the  Maputo Protocol and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance.

scholarly journals BREXIT FROM THE LEGAL POINT OF VIEW

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 141-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
И. Чернышова ◽  
I. Chernyshova
Keyword(s):  
Legal System ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Political Aspect ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Eu

In June 2016 the referendum on the minimum majority of votes of British citizens supported a British exit from the European Union, from that moment began the formal process of so-called “Brexit” — a unique event in the political life of the EU and the UK. Apart the political aspect, Brexit also is a difficult challenge for legislators, academics and lawyers both in the EU and in the UK. Over the last forty years, the legislative system of the EU and the UK are closely intertwined and now constitute a single legal system. The notice of withdrawal from the EU has caused differences which led to the consideration of the functions and powers of the government in court. This article discusses how participants of the legal process of brexit (legislators, academics and lawyers) approach to solving this problem: background, development process, proposed legislation and the reaction to it from the professional legal community with the view of the political process and the preparations for the negotiations on the exit procedure and further cooperation. In the article, the procedure and consequences of the brexit are considered from the European and British points of view. The key legislative act defining the brexit consequences for the legal system in the UK will be the Bill on the Great Cancellation, which determines the order of separation of the British legal system from Europe. The article also includes a brief review of the brexit effects for individual areas of British law.

Traditionalism and politics: A case study of Northern Nigeria

1967 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 509-524 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. J. O. Dudley
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
High Time ◽  
The Political ◽  
Northern Nigeria ◽  
The North ◽  
The Right

In the debate on the Native Authority (Amendment) Law of 1955, the late Premier of the North, Sir Ahmadu Bello, Sardauna of Sokoto, replying to the demand that ‘it is high time in the development of local government systems in this Region that obsolete and undemocratic ways of appointing Emirs’ Councils should close’, commented that ‘the right traditions that we have gone away from are the cutting off of the hands of thieves, and that has caused a lot of thieving in this country. Why should we not be cutting (off) the hands of thieves in order to reduce thieving? That is logical and it is lawful in our tradition and custom here.’ This could be read as a defence against social change, a recrudescence of ‘barbarism’ after the inroads of pax Britannica, and a plea for the retention of the status quo and the entrenched privilege of the political elite.

scholarly journals An unknown letter of the Suceava Metropolitan Dositheus on the dissolution of the marriage of the hetman of the right-bank Cossacks Stefan Kunitsky (1683)

2021 ◽  
pp. 441-450
Author(s):  
Kirill A. Kochegarov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Status ◽  
Ottoman Empire ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Aspect ◽  
Career Strategies ◽  
Unique Source ◽  
The Right ◽  
Personal Interests

This is a publication of the letter of the Suceava Metropolitan Dositheus, apparently written in November, 1683. It was adressed to the leader of the Right-Bank Cossacks, Stefan Kunitsky. After being appointed hetman of the Cossacks by the Polish king Jan III Sobieski, he organized an invasion of Moldavia and a raid on the territory of the Budzhak horde in the autumn or winter of 1683. In the letter, Dositheus gave his permission to Kunitsky to divorce his wife, Elena, who was much older than him, and, accordingly, allowed a second marriage. Elena was the widow of G. Lesnitsky, an influential Cossack foreman of the 1650–1660s, and the marriage with her undoubtedly helped Kunitsky in raising his social status: he was part of the entourage of the Right-Bank hetman P. D. Doroshenko, later became a Cossack colonel under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, and finally managed to get the hetman title from the Polish king. The published document is a unique source that characterizes not only the political aspect of the Cossack-Moldovan relations in 1683, but also sheds light on the little-studied problem of career strategies and personal interests of individual representatives of the Ukrainian Cossacks in the era of Ruina (1660–1680s), for the implementation of which they used their military and political successes.

Political and Social Implications

2020 ◽  
pp. 247-255
Author(s):  
Mona Lena Krook
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Violence Against Women ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Women In Politics ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Multiple Dimensions

Chapter 19 considers the political and social consequences of violence against women in politics. The implications of these acts reach far beyond their effects on individual victims, harming political institutions as well as society at large. First, attempting to exclude women as women from participating in political life undermines democracy, negating political rights and disturbing the political process. Second, tolerating mistreatment due to a person’s ascriptive characteristics infringes on their human rights, damaging their personal integrity as well as the perceived social value of their group. Third, normalizing women’s exclusion from political participation relegates women to second class citizenship, threatening principles of gender equality. The chapter concludes that naming the problem of violence against women in politics thus has important repercussions along multiple dimensions, making the defense of women’s rights integral to the protection of political and human rights for all.

The King's Affinity in the Polity of Yorkist England

1973 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 1-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. L. Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Formal Group ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Strict Sense ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Scene

The rise and fall of the house of York is a story which sits uneasily towards both revolutionary and evolutionary interpretations of fifteenth-century England. Indeed, in general, attempts to tidy away the political process of Lancastrian and Yorkist times into the displacement of one type of régime by another always fail to convince. They do so because as a régime neither Lancaster nor York kept still long enough to be impaled on a categorical definition. The political life and death of both dynasties composes the pattern, changing yet constant, of a set of variations on the theme of an aristocratic society pre-dominantly kingship-focused and centripetal rather than locality-focused and centrifugal. In so far as the political process conformed to the social order, the households of the great were the nodal connections in which relationships of mutual dependence cohered. Those retinues, fellowships, affinities (for the vocabulary of the time was rich in terms overlapping but with nuances of descriptive emphasis) have now been studied both in their general conformation and in several particular instances; I have here attempted for the central affinity of the king over one generation not a formal group portrait but a sketch focused on the middle distance of figures in a landscape. The meagreness of household records in the strict sense is a problem we must learn to live with. But it would seem sensible to make a virtue of necessity and follow the life-line of what evidence there is to the conclusion that if an understanding of the household is only possible by attending to its wider context, so an understanding of that wider political scene requires some attention to the household.

scholarly journals Realism and reflexivity: Morgenthau, academic freedom and dissent

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 321-343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seán Molloy
Keyword(s):  
Academic Freedom ◽  
Vietnam War ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
The Political ◽  
Government Power ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Right ◽  
Effective Use ◽  
Hans Morgenthau

Primarily known as a pioneer of International Relations (IR) theory, Hans Morgenthau also wrote on a series of other political themes. Especially prominent in his later career is a concern with the right and duty of a theorist to exercise academic freedom as a critic of government power and, especially in this particular case, of US foreign policy. For Morgenthau the responsibility to hold governments to account by reference to the ‘higher laws’ that underpin and legitimize democracy in its truest form was a key function of the theorist in society. Dissensus and healthy debate characterize genuine democracy for Morgenthau who was perturbed by what he perceived to be a worrying concern with conformity and consensus among the political and academic elites of Vietnam War era America. This article investigates the theoretical and philosophical commitments that explain why Morgenthau felt compelled to oppose the government of his adopted state and the consequences of his having done so. For all the vicissitudes he endured, Morgenthau ultimately emerged vindicated from his clash with the political elite and his experience serves as an exemplary case of the effective use of academic freedom to oppose government policy by means of balanced, judicious critique. In the final section I argue that Morgenthau’s approach to theory, theorization and the role of the intellectual in society provides valuable insights into the nature of reflexivity in IR that are of relevance to contemporary debates in the discipline.

scholarly journals Verset en rewolusie

1995 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
I. W.C. Van Wyk
Keyword(s):  
Political Process ◽  
Civil Disobedience ◽  
The Political ◽  
Reformed Theology ◽  
Church Member ◽  
Democratic State ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Church

Resistance and revolution. The communion formulary of the Nederduitsch Hervonnde Kerk states clearly that a church member may not take part in revolutionary activities and that he should obey governmental authorities. Two questions are asked: 1. Does this statement imply that a Christian should obey goverments, even when they are oppressive? Can a Christian do something about his fate, or is he obliged to suffer injustice?  2. How can and must we interpret this principle today in a democratic state where resistance and rebellion are integral elements of the political process? It is argued that in  Biblical Reformed theology not only the duty to obey but also the right to resist are justified. Although civil disobedience is allowed, violence is strongly condemned. This article asks the church to adhere to the communion formulary, but simultaniously to realise the vast differences between the  sixteenth and the twentieth centuries.

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