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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political structure & processes > Constitution, government & the state
This is the go-to guide for confused South Africans and all those seeking an informed, balanced and up-to-date analysis of South African politics and society in the Ramaphosa era.
When Nelson Mandela emerged from decades in jail to preach reconciliation, South Africans appeared to many as a people reborn as the Rainbow Nation. Yet, a quarter of a century later, the country sank into bitter recriminations and rampant corruption under Jacob Zuma. Why did this happen, and how was hope betrayed?
President Cyril Ramaphosa, hoping to heal these wounds, was re-elected in May 2019 with the ANC hoping to claw back support lost to the opposition in the Zuma era. This book analyses this election, shedding light on voters’ choices.
With chapters on all the major issues at stake – from education to land redistribution – Understanding South Africa offers insights into Africa’s largest and most diversified economy, closely tied to its neighbours’ fortunes.
El presente trabajo es una obra que pretende incursionar en la
sociedad y sus organizaciones p blicas; obra moderada, que sin
embargo podr a parecer radical para algunos lectores. No obstante,
es la firme voluntad de contribuir con ideas al desarrollo de
nuestro pa s, mismo que presenta los problemas de toda sociedad org
nica. Puedo asegurar que en M xico erigir un gobierno hacia el
futuro, no es una utop a, si bien es un proyecto dif cil de
organizar, tampoco es imposible. Debemos consagrar todo esfuerzo en
donde se pueda disfrutar de instituciones s lidas en la cosa p
blica, las cuales respondan a las necesidades de una poblaci n vida
de disfrutar buenos servicios, tanto p blicos como privados. Lo
anterior solamente se puede lograr con un nuevo modelo de gobierno
generador de riqueza y una administraci n con una visi n del
futuro.
In this book, Justin DePlato examines and analyzes the reasons and
justifications for, as well as instances of, executive emergency
power in political thought and action. The book begins by analyzing
the theory of executive emergency power across a wide breadth of
philosophical history, from Ancient Greek, Renaissance, through
modern American political thought. This analysis indicates that in
political philosophy two models exist for determining and using
executive emergency power: an unfettered executive prerogative or a
constitutional dictatorship. The modern American approach to
executive emergency power is an unfettered executive prerogative,
whereby the executive determines what emergency power is and how to
use it. The book addresses the fundamental question of whether
executive power in times of crisis may be unfettered and
discretionary or rather does the law define and restrain executive
emergency power. The author reviews and analyzes seven U.S.
presidencies that handled a domestic crisis-Washington, Jefferson,
Madison, Jackson, Lincoln, G. W. Bush, and Obama-to show that
presidents become extraordinarily powerful during crises and act
unilaterally without oversight. The use of executive emergency
power undermines the normal processes of democratic republicanism
and harms the rule of law. The author analyzes the U.S.
Constitution, formerly classified Department of Justice Memos,
primary sourced letters, signing statements, executive orders,
presidential decrees, and original founding documents to
comprehensively conclude that presidential prerogative determines
what emergency powers are and how they are to be executed. This
book challenges the claim that presidents determine their emergency
power with appropriate congressional oversight or consultation. The
analysis of the empirical data indicates that presidents do not
consult with Congress prior to determining what their emergency
powers are and how the president wants to use them. Justin DePlato
joins the highly contentious debate over the use of executive power
during crisis and offers a sharp argument against an ever-growing
centralized and unchecked federal power. He argues that presidents
are becoming increasingly reckless when determining and using power
during crisis, often times acting unconstitutional.
In The Dynamics of Policy Implementation in Nigeria, author
Mohammad Ahmad Wali examines the implementation of public policy in
Nigeria with an emphasis on Sokoto State from 1976 to 1991, from
the perspective of an insider.
Thoroughly documented and researched, The Dynamics of Policy
Implementation in Nigeria first dissects the explanations provided
for both the success and failure of the government's efforts at
moving policy forward. Wali specifically investigates the
"Operation Move Ahead" education policy that has failed to achieve
its objectives. A comprehensive presentation of the region's
history, religion, politics, and socioeconomic structure provides
the background from which to analyze the issues.
With charts and diagrams, Wali discusses the four main obstacles
to implementation in the Sokoto State bureaucracy: governmental
instability, governmental overload, socioeconomic problems, and the
infrastructural inadequacies confronting policy implementers. The
crucial role of implementation analysis is to identify the factors
which affect the achievement of policy objectives.
." . . the real source of his Cooley's] fame. This book originated
from the need of introducing a course on Constitutional Law in the
school. . . . The text was developed as a basis for lectures. . . .
His discussion attained immediate fame and his views and
suggestions practically dominated American Constitutional Law. . .
. Like Blackstone, Pomeroy and many other legal works, the
influence of Constitutional Limitations rests partly upon literary
qualities, upon clarity and grace of unaffected statement." --James
G. Rogers, American Bar Leaders 70."The most influential work ever
published on American Constitutional law." --Edward S. Corwin,
Constitutional Revolution 87.Thomas McIntyre Cooley 1824-1898] was
a justice of the Michigan Supreme Court and was appointed by
President Grover Cleveland to serve on the Interstate Commerce
Commission. He was a visiting professor at Johns Hopkins University
and dean of the University of Michigan Law School. First issued in
1870, his edition of Blackstone, popularly known as "Cooley's
Blackstone," was the standard American edition of the late
nineteenth century. Some of his other influential publications are
A Treatise on the Law of Taxation (1876) and A Treatise on the Law
of Torts or the Wrongs Which Arise Independently of Contract
(1878). Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan, founded
in 1972, was named in his honor.
This book examines how the constitutional requirements of the
lawmaking process, combined with the factional divisions within
parties, affect US representatives' decisions about how to
distribute power among themselves. The incorporation of the
presidential, senatorial, and House factions in the analysis of
House rule making marks an important departure from previous
theories, which analyze the House as an institution that makes laws
in isolation. This book argues that, by constitutional design, the
success of the House in passing legislation is highly contingent on
the actions of the Senate and the president; and therefore, also by
constitutional design, House members must anticipate such actions
when they design their rules. An examination of major rule changes
from 1879 to 2013 finds that changes in the preferences of
constitutional actors outside the House, as well as the political
alignment of these political actors vis-a-vis House factions, are
crucial for predicting the timing and directionality of rule
changes.
The relationship between the presidency and the press has
transformed-seemingly overnight-from one where reports and columns
were filed, edited, and deliberated for hours before publication
into a brave new world where texts, tweets, and sound bites race
from composition to release within a matter of seconds. This
change, which has ultimately made political journalism both more
open and more difficult, brings about many questions, but perhaps
the two most important are these: Are the hard questions still
being asked? Are they still being answered? In Columns to
Characters, Stephanie A. Martin and top scholars and journalists
offer a fresh perspective on how the evolution of technology
affects the way presidents interact with the public. From Bill
Clinton's saxophone playing on the Arsenio Hall Show to Barack
Obama's skillful use of YouTube, Twitter, and Reddit as the first
"social media president," political communication appears to
reflect the increasing fragmentation of the American public. The
accessible essays here explore these implications in a variety of
real-world circumstances: the "narcotizing" numbness of information
overload and voter apathy; the concerns over privacy, security, and
civil liberties; new methods of running political campaigns and
mobilizing support for programs; and a future "post-rhetorical
presidency" in which the press is all but irrelevant. Each section
of the book concludes with a "reality check," a short reflection by
a working journalist (or, in one case, a former White House
insider) on the presidential beat.
Constitutional political economy applies an economic approach to
the analysis of constitutional choice. Initially, research clearly
leaned towards legitimizing the state and its actions. However, the
transitions taking place in Central and Eastern Europe have made
apparent the necessity to improve our knowledge of the working
properties of alternative constitutional rules, thus stressing the
importance of positive analysis. The authors analyse both the
opportunities and dangers of importing constitutions from around
the world into this area. The papers assembled in this volume deal
with the question of what individual transition processes have
taught us in terms of constitution-building. The book contains
analyses of post 1989 constitutional developments in the countries
of Central and Eastern Europe from the perspectives of varied
disciplines; including academics, politicians and the judiciary.
Constitutions, Markets and Law will be welcomed by scholars of
transition studies and political economists as well as
practitioners of, and academics with an interest in, constitutional
law.
This book analyzes the structure of our constitutional system of
government, providing an overview of the constitutional history of
American federalism as it has been developed in decisions of the
United States Supreme Court. Federalism: A Reference Guide to the
United States Constitution provides a thorough examination of this
significant and distinctive part of the U.S. constitutional system,
documenting its role in major domestic constitutional controversies
in every period of American history. Although the book is organized
historically rather than doctrinally, the marked evolutions of
important areas of doctrine are addressed over time. These subject
areas include the scope of Congress's power under the Commerce
Clause, the scope of Congress's powers under the Fourteenth and
other post-Civil War Amendments, the states' authority to regulate
commercial and economic matters when Congress is silent, the
principle of the supremacy of federal law and the law of preemption
that follows from it, intergovernmental and sovereign immunities,
the obligation of state courts to enforce federal law, and the
scope of national power to regulate or impose obligations on the
states. Provides historical information in a clear, chronological
order Enables law students and lawyers to improve their
understanding of the legal doctrines that underlie today's
conflicts. Documents the relationships among different doctrines
across particular time periods
Orestes Brownson's thought-provoking thesis on the US government,
the Constitution of the United States, and the ultimate destiny of
the USA, remains as incisive and intellectually rich today as when
it was first published. Combining history with political
philosophy, Brownson casts his analytical gaze to the inception of
the American nation. Using a wide variety of documents, including
those authored by the Founding Fathers prior to and following the
creation of the United States, the author attempts to demonstrate
how religion and politics are interrelated - in the case of
America's founding, both had roles. Writing in the mid-19th
century, Orestes Brownson attempts to clarify what the nature of
the U.S. government is, and how the Constitution reflects it.
Various natural laws, such as those pertaining to the family and
human development of civilization, are examined. Part of Brownson's
conclusion is the idea religion must continue to play a role in the
USA, just as it has since the colonial era.
This challenging book explores the debates over the scope of the
enumerated powers of Congress and the Fourteenth Amendment that
accompanied the expansion of federal authority during the period
between the beginning of the Civil War and the inauguration of
Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The Rise of the Federal Colossus: The
Growth of Federal Power from Lincoln to F.D.R. offers readers a
front-row seat for the critical phases of a debate that is at the
very center of American history, exploring such controversial
issues as what powers are bestowed on the federal government, what
its role should be, and how the Constitution should be interpreted.
The book argues that the critical period in the growth of federal
power was not the New Deal and the three decades that followed, but
the preceding 72 years when important precedents establishing the
national government's authority to aid citizens in distress,
regulate labor, and take steps to foster economic growth were
established. The author explores newspaper and magazine articles,
as well as congressional debates and court opinions, to determine
how Americans perceived the growing authority of their national
government and examine arguments over whether novel federal
activities had any constitutional basis. Responses of government to
the enormous changes that took place during this period are also
surveyed. Numerous citations of the Congressional Record and
federal court opinions Scores of articles from magazines,
newspapers, and scholarly journals of the period that reveal how
Americans of all walks of life perceived the evolution of federal
authority A select bibliography listing a wide variety of secondary
works ranging from biographies to legal treatises that will aid the
reader in further exploring the evolution of American federalism A
helpful index that provides access to roles and views of critical
figures in the evolution of federal authority during the middle
period
Tianjian Shi shows how cultural norms affect political attitudes
and behavior through two causal pathways, one at the individual
level and one at the community level. Focusing on two key norms -
definition of self-interest and orientation to authority - he tests
the theory with multiple surveys conducted in mainland China and
Taiwan. Shi employs multi-level statistical analysis to show how,
in these two very different political systems, similar norms exert
similar kinds of influence on political trust, understanding of
democracy, forms of political participation, and tolerance for
protest. The approach helps to explain the resilience of
authoritarian politics in China and the dissatisfaction of many
Taiwan residents with democratic institutions. Aiming to place the
study of political culture on a new theoretical and methodological
foundation, Shi argues that a truly comparative social science must
understand how culturally embedded norms influence decision making.
This book explores some of the most glaring misunderstandings about
the U.S. Supreme Court-and makes a strong case for why our Supreme
Court Justices should not be entrusted with decisions that affect
every American citizen. Supreme Myths: Why the Supreme Court is Not
a Court and its Justices are Not Judges presents a detailed
discussion of the Court's most important and controversial
constitutional cases that demonstrates why it doesn't justify being
labeled "a court of law." Eric Segall, professor of law at Georgia
State University College of Law for two decades, explains why this
third branch of the national government is an institution that
makes important judgments about fundamental questions based on the
Justices' ideological preferences, not the law. A complete
understanding of the true nature of the Court's decision-making
process is necessary, he argues, before an intelligent debate over
who should serve on the Court-and how they should resolve cases-can
be held. Addressing front-page areas of constitutional law such as
health care, abortion, affirmative action, gun control, and freedom
of religion, this book offers a frank description of how the
Supreme Court truly operates, a critique of life tenure of its
Justices, and a set of proposals aimed at making the Court function
more transparently to further the goals of our representative
democracy.
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