Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People: Lessons for Particularistic and Universalistic Constitutional Legitimation

2020 ◽  
Vol 82 ◽  
pp. 101-114
Author(s):  
Alon Harel
Keyword(s):  
Past History ◽  
Jewish People ◽  
Nation State ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
Basic Law ◽  
Constitutional Legitimacy

The ‘Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People,’ passed by the Knesset on July 19, 2018. This Article describes the main provisions of the Basic Law; it discusses some of the past history leading to the legislation. It also provides some evaluation as to its effects and speculations concerning its future. Last I use this basic law to make a broader point concerning constitutional legitimation. More specifically I argue that there are two ways to gain constitutional legitimacy: representational and reasons-based. While particularistic values such as the ones entrenched in the basic law gain legitimacy from representation, universalistic values need not rest on representation. I conclude by arguing that given the failure to gain consensual support for the basic law it is an illegitimate attempt to entrench particularistic values in a divisive society. It is only by representing the public as a whole that this law can gain constitutional legitimacy.

scholarly journals Sharing the archive: Using web technologies for accessing, storing and re-using historical data

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 205979911878774 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Finnane ◽  
Andy Kaladelfos ◽  
Alana Piper
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Research Collaboration ◽  
Historical Data ◽  
Past History ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Small Samples ◽  
Aggregated Data ◽  
The Public ◽  
Web Technologies ◽  
The Past

Historical data pose a variety of problems to those who seek statistically based understandings of the past. Quantitative historical analysis has been limited by researcher’s reliance on rigid statistics collected by individuals or agencies, or else by researcher access to small samples of raw data. Even digital technologies by themselves have not been enough to overcome the challenges of working with manuscript sources and aligning dis-aggregated data. However, by coupling the facilities enabled by the web with the enthusiasm of the public for explorations of the past, history has started to make the same strides towards big data evident in other fields. While the use of citizens to crowdsource research data was first pioneered within the sciences, a number of projects have similarly begun to draw on the help of citizen historians. This article explores the particular example of the Prosecution Project, which since 2014 has been using crowdsourced volunteers on a research collaboration to build a large-scale relational database of criminal prosecutions throughout Australia from the early 1800s to 1960s. The article outlines the opportunities and challenges faced by projects seeking to use web technologies to access, store and re-use historical data in an environment that increasingly enables creative collaborations between researchers and other users of social and historical data.

Retrieving the Past—The Historical Theme in Penelope Lively’s Fictions

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (10) ◽  
pp. 2014
Author(s):  
Xiaotang Lv
Keyword(s):  
Past History ◽  
Stream Of Consciousness ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Road ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Book Award ◽  
National Book ◽  
Narrative Techniques ◽  
Present Life

Penelope Lively (1933- ), the contemporary British writer, was first known mainly as a children’s writer prior to her winning the 1987 Booker Prize with her widely praised novel Moon Tiger (1987). The Road to Lichfield, published in 1977, is her first adult novel which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Treasures of Time (1979), her second adult novel, was the winner of Great Britain’s first National Book Award for fiction in 1980 and the Arts Council National Book Award. In her literary fictions, Lively interweaves the present and the past -- history, the public, collective past, and memory, the private and personal past -- together with the application of various narrative techniques, such as flashback, stream of consciousness, psychological time, etc. A predominant theme running through her literary world is her consistent focus on history. This essay intend to study Penelope Lively’s understanding and interpretation of history, and draw this conclusion: Although a complete understanding of history is impossible, yet as we realize our subjectivity and misunderstanding of history we can try to understand it in a new way and integrate it into the present life.

The Jewish Nation-State Law

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 43-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hassan Jabareen ◽  
Suhad Bishara
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Jewish People ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
State Law ◽  
Green Line ◽  
Basic Law ◽  
The Status ◽  
Occupied Territories

This analysis explores the origins and constitutional implications of Basic Law: Israel – The Nation State of the Jewish People (hereafter the Jewish Nation-State Law), enacted by the Israeli Knesset in July 2018. It examines the antecedents of the legislation in Israeli jurisprudence and argues that most of the law's provisions are the product of precedents established by Israel's Supreme Court, specifically the court's rulings delivered post-Oslo. The authors contend that the “two states for two peoples” vision of so-called liberal Zionists paved the way for Israel's right-wing politicians to introduce this law. Their analysis holds that the law is radical in nature: far from being a mere continuation of the status quo, it confers unprecedented constitutional status on ordinary policies and destabilizes the prevailing legal distinction between the area within the Green Line and the 1967 occupied territories.

scholarly journals The knowledge gap in world politics: Assessing the sources of citizen awareness of the United Nations Security Council

2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 673-700 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Maria Dellmuth
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Security Council ◽  
World Politics ◽  
United Nations Security Council ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
Nation State ◽  
International Organisations ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
The United Nations

AbstractThe past decades have seen a significant expansion in the scope and authority of international organisations (IOs), raising questions about who participates and is represented in the public contestation of IOs. An important precondition for citizens to become critically involved in the public debate about an IO is that they are aware of the politics of that IO. This article sheds light on this largely unexplored issue, asking why some citizens are more aware of IOs than others. This question is examined in the context of a powerful international organisation, the United Nations Security Council. Using a multilevel analysis of citizens in 17 Asian and European countries, this article argues that citizen knowledge about the Council is shaped by economic conditions and cosmopolitan identity. Higher levels of knowledge are found among the wealthier, and there is some evidence that income inequality depresses knowledge among poorer citizens. Furthermore, citizens identifying with groups or individuals across nation-state borders are more likely to know more about the Council. The article sketches broader implications for the study of the politicisation of IOs and citizen representation in the public contestation of IOs.

scholarly journals Um Passado Jogável? Simulação Digital, Videogames e História Pública

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 163
Author(s):  
Helyom Viana Telles
Keyword(s):  
Video Game ◽  
Computer Games ◽  
Public History ◽  
Past History ◽  
Digital Simulation ◽  
Digital Games ◽  
The Public ◽  
Doctoral Research ◽  
The Past ◽  
Literature Production

O presente trabalho foi originado a partir das reflexões suscitadas por uma pesquisa de pós-doutorado que investiga como os jogos eletrônicos podem contribuir para a produção e o compartilhamento de representações, de imagens e de um imaginário sobre o passado, atuando como suporte para a memória coletiva. O artigo propõe uma reflexão sobre as relações entre simulação digital, o conhecimento do passado e a história pública com base na discussão da produção bibliográfica recente de historiadores norte-americanos que tratam do tema. O artigo critica a dicotomia entre jogos digitais educativos comerciais conclui que os elementos ficcionais presentes em simulações e jogos digitais oferecem a oportunidade para o exercício de exploração da história contrafatual. Essa característica, aliada à possibilidade de expressão de dados e conhecimentos históricos complexos, tornam as simulações e jogos digitais valiosas para o campo da história pública.Palavras-Chave: História Pública, Simulação Digital, VideogameABSTRACTThis study  originated from the thinking generated by a post-doctoral research that investigates how computer games can contribute to the production and representations sharing, pictures and an imaginary about the past, acting as support for the memory collective. The article proposes a study of the links between digital simulation, knowledge of the past history and the public based on the discussion of recent literature production of American historians on the same matter. The article criticizes the dichotomy between commercial educational digital games concludes that the fictional elements present in simulations and digital games offer the opportunity to exercise exploitation of counterfactual history. This feature, combined with the possibility of data expression and complex historical knowledge, make the simulations and valuable digital games to the field of public history.Keywords: Public history, Digital simulation, Video gameRESUMENEste trabajo surgió del pensamiento generado por una investigación post - doctoral que investiga cómo los videojuegos pueden contribuir a la producción y representaciones que comparten , imágenes y un imaginario sobre el pasado , que sirve de soporte para la memoria colectiva. El artículo propone una reflexión sobre las relaciones entre la simulación digital , el conocimiento de la historia pasada y pública sobre la base de la discusión de la literatura reciente producción de historiadores estadounidenses que tratan el tema . El artículo critica la dicotomía entre los juegos educativos digitales comerciales llega a la conclusión de que los elementos de ficción presentes en simulaciones y juegos digitales ofrecen la oportunidad para que el ejercicio de la explotación de la historia contrafactual . Esta característica, junto con la posibilidad de expresión de los datos y el conocimiento histórico complejo , hacer las simulaciones y juegos digitales valiosos en el campo de la historia pública.Palabras clave: Public history, Digital simulation, Video game

Basic Law: Israel as the Nation State of the Jewish People

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Alon Harel
Keyword(s):  
Jewish Identity ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Jewish People ◽  
The State ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Basic Law ◽  
History Of ◽  
Universal Values ◽  
Constitutional Evolution

Abstract Basic Law: Israel as the Nation State of the Jewish People declares that Israel is the nation state of the Jewish people. It also includes several symbolic and operative provisions which are designed to strengthen the Jewish character of the state. The Basic Law purports to legally define and entrench the particular rather than universal values of Israel—the values that distinguish Israel from other nations rather than those that are shared by other nations. It anchors the Jewish identity of the state in its formal constitutional structure. My aim in this article is to present the history of the constitutional evolution of Israel and then to describe the conservative reactions to the constitutional liberalization of Israel. Then, I turn to examine the Basic Law, its provisions, and the arguments of advocates and opponents. Last, I evaluate its impact on the Israeli legal system. I shall argue that the Basic Law is part of a systematic attack on democratic liberties in Israel that may eventually transform Israel from a liberal democracy to an authoritarian democracy.

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