The Political Representation Crisis in Central Africa

The crisis of political representation in Central Africa is structural. It is intrinsically linked to the failure of democracy in the region. All states of Central Africa are states of law in which the people have a major role to play as the holders of national sovereignty. In fact, the presidential regime allows the president of the republic to concentrate all powers. At each constitutional revision, the chief executive affirms his supremacy over the nation. Such a situation combined with the absence of political alternation in Central Africa is leading to a rejection of political representation by an ever growing segment of the population.

Venizelos Prime Minister

This chapter looks at Venizelos's first steps as head of government in Athens. They showed that he was determined to secure a solid majority, enabling him to implement his program, starting with constitutional revision. Rebutting the hostility of the Ottomans, for whom as the architect of enosis he was deeply suspect, he appointed a government of five ministers of whom only two had served in previous parliaments. This was new blood. Action on the constitution was held up by a major row in parliament (itself with constitutional implications) over the question of dissolution of the assembly, which Venizelos requested. The King granted this, leading to new elections which the old political parties boycotted, thus cutting their own throats. The old party leaders, Theotokis, Rallis and others, had underestimated the new prime minister, who secured an impressive majority. Young deputies such as Kafandaris, elected on Rallis's ticket, soon followed Venizelos, joining the liberal party.

The Language Question

Another important debate in the constitutional revision was about the Greek language - Venizelos's aim being to find in time a single national language fit for all purposes. By 1911 the disputed status of katharevousa (the purist form of Greek used in education, the public services, legislation etc) and dimotiki (demotic Greek, the language of poetry and much literature) had become an acute issue. It was brought into the constitutional debate by the so-called language defenders who opposed the so-called 'hairy ones', the proponents of extreme forms of demotic, and wished to entrench katharevousa as the official language of the state. The debate spread as much heat as light. Venizelos was sympathetic to demotic Greek but used katharevousa in official contexts. His speech set out the issues well. He accepted that the language of Holy Writ should be protected by the constitution. He was forced to disappoint some of the demoticists, his natural allies, by accepting a clause in the new constitution stating that the official language of the state was the language of the constitution itself, and of legislation. The passion aroused in these debates derived from the integral connection of the national language with Greek national identity.

Relinquishing Eternity

This chapter investigates the possibility of repealing eternity clauses and renouncing doctrines of implicit unamendability. It looks at two case studies from Turkey and India, where backtracking from an eternity clause and basic structure doctrine were debated and ultimately rejected. It also explores the possibility of placing judicial doctrines of unamendability on formal constitutional footing and discusses the impact of this move on constitutional adjudication. This chapter examines the distinctions upon which unamendability repeal rests, such as between constitutional amendment and constitutional revision, between formal and informal amendments, and between amendment and revolution. It shows how pushing back against unamendability is very difficult through formal constitutional change and unlikely through judicial interpretation.

The Effect of Changing Political Contexts on Public Opinion in Japan, 1945–2020

The role of public opinion in Japan has changed dramatically in response to major shifts in party politics over the past seventy years. This chapter explains how the creation and disintegration of a dominant pattern in elite political discourse shaped people’s understanding of and response to public affairs. It also describes how polling and the electorate developed side-by-side in a newly democratic Japan. During the early postwar period, Japanese people were preoccupied with achieving economic security. The party system was initially very unstable, but constitutional revision and the security treaty with the US became central issues due to the Korean War and other Cold War conflicts. A bipolar political competition over these issues drove public opinion from 1955 to the mid-1990s. The “conservative” and “progressive” ideologies were diametrically opposed over constitutional revision and the US-Japan Security Treaty. This ideological divide was institutionalized in a decades-long conflict between two political camps in the legislature. Ordinary people understood public affairs through the rhetoric of these two ideologies. In the current post–Cold War, post-reform era that began in the mid-1990s, the conflict between the conservative and progressive ideologies no longer provides signals for understanding politics. Political parties differ mostly in the fact that one group is in government and the others are in opposition. Without guiding principles to organize political discourse, short-term policy concerns and perceptions of incumbent government performance influence public opinion the most. At the same time, whether a government remains in power depends on public approval more than ever before.

Some Reflections on the Constitutional Review in Albania in a Comparison Key

In this study we will try to analyze the foundations of the Constitution as a pillar and as a guarantee for its solidity. The study will also address the need for revision of the constitution as a fundamental element of its existence and continuity. Particular emphasis will be given to the comparison of the constitutions of the most important countries in the world as regards the procedures and limits to the constitutional revision. In this sense, the constitutions of some Balkan Peninsula countries will be analyzed to draw a comparison and analyze the Albanian Constitution as regards the procedure for its revision. The study intends to analyze the procedures for the revision of the Constitution as well as the explicit and implicit limits to these revisions. In the Constitutional revision in Albania in 2016, the role of the Constitutional Court on the control of the constitutional legitimacy of constitutional revision laws was clarified. Formal constitutionality is usually emphasized since the Albanian constitutional reform underlined that the Constitutional Court in Albania could express itself on the constitutionality of the Constitutional revision law only from a formal point of view. Received: 2 January 2021 / Accepted: 27 February 2021 / Published: 7 March 2021