Nelson provides a historical overview of the theoretical and ideological evolution of the modern state, from pre-state and pre-modern state formations to the present. Major themes and key thinkers are treated in some depth and specificity. At the same time, structural changes, both socio-economic and political, underlying shifts in state consciousness are emphasized. The link between state ideologies of legitimation and forms of political consciousness is stressed, including those theoretical forms of consciousness characteristic of modern social and political science. A major theme of the book is the need to understand the modern state holistically, as a totality of social, political, and ideological factors.

An examination of the language of law in the area of political representation, this book considers the development and recognition of group claims brought pursuant to the Voting Rights Act and the Equal Protection Clause in Supreme Court opinions. In his analysis, Burke highlights the different, discursive strategies, broadly identified as liberal and communitarian, used by the Supreme Court to justify the outcomes of various cases, and he argues that no particular strategy of justification is inherently politically conservative or liberal and that no conception of political representation is unassailable. Therefore, it is unlikely that the Supreme Court will articulate a stable measure of fair representation.

The Supreme Court offers one more forum in the deliberation over what is fair representation; however, it is not likely to provide minority communities with a legal answer to the problem of political underrepresentation. As such, this book tells the uncertain story of the creation of political fairness by the Supreme Court. The language used to characterize what is fair and representative, and the theoretical designs which the rhetoric reflects, allows us to formulate concepts of fair representation as legal standards evolve. By placing the debate over fair representation in not only political and legal but also philosophical terms, we are better able to understand the inevitable tensions that drive the concept of representation into new, ill-defined, and contentious areas.

Decisive rejection by French and Dutch voters in 2005 forced the EU to abandon the Constitutional Treaty agreed the previous year. Yet by the end of the 2007, contrary to all expectations and after an intergovernmental conference essentially devoid of substantive negotiation, EU leaders had agreed and signed the Treaty of Lisbon containing the bulk of the Constitutional Treaty's substantive reforms. How did this latest treaty come about? Why did events move so quickly in 2007? Who were the key actors and what methods did they use to enable a treaty to be drawn up and agreed in such a short period of time? This book explores the unique process that saw EU leaders hastily agree a lengthy and detailed mandate for the intergovernmental conference. In doings so, it highlights the pivotal roles played by the German Council Presidency and key institutional actors in paving the way for and securing agreement among EU leaders on the new treaty.

From the days of Athenian democracy to the back rooms of Chicago politics today, corruption has plagued all political systems for all time. It is ubiquitous, vexing, and at times, threatens the very fabric of society. No culture, no system of government, no code of ethics has been able to eliminate political corruption. While the United States generally ranks comparatively low in measures of political corruption (Transparency International rates the U.S. as the 18th "least" corrupt nation in the world, with Denmark at number one, New Zealand, second, and Sweden third, the U.K. 16, France 23, Spain 28, Israel 33, South Korea 40, Italy 55, Cuba 65, with Somalia last at 180), yet it too continues to confront the sting of political corruption. For something to count as political corruption in the United States, it must have a public impact, be a part of some violation of public trust. As such, another useful distinction can be drawn between individual corruption and systemic corruption. The former is individual wrongdoing. An officeholder on the take, a legislator who sells his vote, would be examples of "bad apples." Systemic corruption encompasses a broader sphere. Instead of bad apples, here you have a "bad system." The undermining of democratic legitimacy or equality might be considered examples of systemic corruption, as might campaign financing practices. Such corruption runs deeper than mere individual transgression. Corruption is embedded into the day-to-day operation of the system. In focusing on the individual, we often overlook the systemic. It is easier, and in the short run, more gratifying to catch, punish, and condemn an individual like Governor Blagojevich. Yet what of the systemic forces that led the governor to behave in such a manner? Is there undue systemic pressure to accumulate money, so much so that the system pushes politicians "over the edge"? A politician need not "sell" offices to enter into a Faustian bargain. It may be perfectly legal to collect campaign contributions, yet it may also have a corrosive or corrupting effect on the integrity of the democratic process. With so many issues of corruption swirling around in the current American political climate, it is timely that there is new scholarship that casts much-needed light on these systemic forces. The brilliant discussions by a stellar list of distinguished scholars, led by Michael A. Genovese and Victoria A. Farrar-Meyers, in the insightful edited volume, Corruption and American Politics, delivers the best and most up-to-date thinking by some of the finest political minds in the nation. This will be an essential resource for all collections in political science and American studies.

Politicians are polarized. Public opinion is volatile. Government is gridlocked. Or so journalists and pundits constantly report. But where are we, really, in modern American politics, and how did we get there? Those are the questions that Byron E. Shafer aims to answer in The American Political Pattern. Looking at the state of American politics at diverse points over the past eighty years, the book draws a picture, broad in scope yet precise in detail, of our political system in the modern era. It is a picture of stretches of political stability, but also, even more, of political change, one that goes a long way toward explaining how shifting factors alter the content of public policy and the character of American politicking. Shafer divides the modern world into four distinct periods: the High New Deal (1932-1938), the Late New Deal (1939-1968), the Era of Divided Government (1969-1992), and the Era of Partisan Volatility (1993-2016). Each period is characterized by a different arrangement of the same key factors: party balance, ideological polarization, issue conflict, and the policy-making process that goes with them. The American Political Pattern shows how these factors are in turn shaped by permanent aspects of the US Constitution, most especially the separation of powers and federalism, while their alignment is simultaneously influenced by the external demands for governmental action that arise in each period, including those derived from economic currents, major wars, and social movements. Analyzing these periods, Shafer sets the terms for understanding the structure and dynamics of politics in our own turbulent time. Placing the current political world in its historical and evolutionary framework, while illuminating major influences on American politics over time, his book explains where this modern world came from, why it endures, and how it might change yet again.

During the 1990s the concept of state failure emerged as part of an attempt to explain and understand the complex, post-Cold War, new world dis-order. State failure achieved prominence, being applied to situations of institutional collapse and mass violence that appeared to herald a new level of international instability. Ungoverned territories hosted criminal networks, narco-barons, and terrorists; they would be sources of threats flowing from environmental degradation and disease. The failed state influenced profoundly international politics in early-21st century. Exploring critically the emergence, evolution and consequences of the state failure concept, Andrew Taylor concludes that despite a superficial plausibility, it lacks sufficient theoretical and empirical rigour to understand the varying phenomena gathered under the heading of state failure. This lack of intellectual depth renders it dangerous as a guide to policy.

In 1945, Allama Inayatullah Khan Al-Mashriqi, founder of the Khaksar Tehreek, published The Constitution of Free India, 1946 A.C. Also known as the Mashriqi Constitution or Khaksar Constitution, the document was created in order to prevent the partition of India. The Constitution was formulated, under Mashriqi's guidance, by eminent personalities and intellectuals from various disciplines, such as politics, finance, and administration and law. The result was a monumental work that accommodated the rights of all - including Muslims, Hindus, Scheduled Castes, Sikhs, Jains, Parsees, Budhists, Jews and Christians. According to Mashriqi: "We addressed almost every important element of India's national life requesting it to send its declaration of interests so that in case the interests did not clash with those of other parties in the country they might be incorporated in the body of the Constitution 'as far as possible, feasible and consistent with the interests of other parties.' We addressed more or less 75 parties and over three hundred million people in the country accepted our invitation through their accredited leaders."* By December of 1945, 50,000 copies of the Constitution had been printed. Ultimately, however, the Constitution was not adopted for political reasons, and British India was subsequently partitioned in 1947. Nevertheless, The Constitution of Free India, 1946 A.C. serves as a lasting example of the Khaksars' efforts to bring the nation together - and how close they came to achieving the vision of a united, independent India. For more information on Allama Mashriqi and the Khaksar Tehreek, visit the following web sites: http: //www.allamamashraqi.com http: //www.allamamashriqi.info *Source: Mashriqi's address at the University Institute Hall, Calcutta on October 21, 1945, entitled "Where Leaders Fail: A Dispassionate Dissection of Indian Politics from a Non-Party Point of View"

Among the most controversial issues in the United States is the question of whether public or private agencies should adopt preferential treatment programs or be required to pay reparations for slavery. Using a carefully reasoned philosophical approach, Stephen Kershnar argues that programs such as affirmative action and calls for slavery reparations are unjust for three reasons. First, the state has a duty to direct resources to those persons who, through their abilities, will benefit most from them. Second, he argues that, in the case of slavery, past injustice--where both the victims and perpetrators are long dead--cannot ground current claims to compensation. As terrible as slavery was, those who claim a right to compensation today owe their existence to it, he reasons, and since the events that bring about a person's existence are normally thought to be beneficial, past injustices do not warrant compensation. Finally, even if past injustices were allowed to serve as the basis of compensation in the present, other variables prevent a reasonable estimation of the amount owed.

State sovereignty is the foundation of international relations. This thought-provoking book explores the gap between seeing sovereignty as either absolute or relative. It argues that state sovereignty is both factual and judicial and that the 'loss' of sovereignty exists only at the margins of the international society. With many interesting real-world examples of ambiguous sovereignty examined, this is an important argument against those who are quick to claim that 'sovereignty' is under assault.

An inherent tension resides in the Fourth Amendment's strictures on unreasonable searches and seizures. We want it to protect our privacy from government intrusion, yet we want the police to do whatever is required to solve crime. Greater controls on the power of the police provide more privacy protections to citizens. Reduced controls on police actions provide less privacy protection to citizens. Bloom explores this tension as he guides the reader to through the history and relevant Supreme Court decisions that have shaped the current state of Fourth Amendment law.

With the rise of direct-democratic instruments, the relationship between popular sovereignty and the rule of law is set to become one of the defining political issues of our time. This important and timely book provides an in-depth analysis of the limits imposed on referendums and citizens' initiatives, as well as of systems of reviewing compliance with these limits, in 11 European states. Chapters explore and lay the scientific basis for answering crucial questions such as 'Where should the legal limits of direct democracy be drawn?' and 'Who should review compliance with these limits?' Providing a comparative analysis of the different issues in the selected countries, the book draws out key similarities and differences, as well as an assessment of the law and the practice at national levels when judged against the international standards contained in the Venice Commission's Guidelines on the Holding of Referendums. Presenting an up-to-date analysis of the relationship between popular sovereignty and the rule of law, The Legal Limits of Direct Democracy will be a key resource for scholars and students in comparative and constitutional law and political science. It will also be beneficial to policy-makers and practitioners in parliaments, governments and election commissions, and experts working for international organisations.

Shows that networks in European integration governance were not a phenomenon that developed in the 1980s out of a 'hollowing out' of the nation-states in the 1970s. Based throughout on newly accessible sources, the authors discuss various networks and show how they contributed to constitutional choices and policy decisions after World War II.

This book examines the U.S. Constitution by focusing on its origins in Western political thought and its organization and subsequent amendments. It describes the document as a series of choices among alternative governmental institutions that are designed to provide national security and secure ordered liberty.

This text examines the debates and developments about House of Lords reform since 1911, and notes that disagreements have occurred within, as well as between, the main political parties and governments throughout this time. It draws attention to how various proposals for reform have raised a wider range of constitutional and political problems.

The purpose of this book is to bring your conscious mind a Revelation. The Truth is that you are the Spirit that inhabits your form. My story will acquaint you with Agape love exploits in a life of young and intelligent people. They each have a mission and an agenda to live their lifestyle. To make it explicitly different the woman subject is a witch and the male is by the Holy Spirit protected. A county is in need to expending their infrastructure. A large acquisition of Office space and facilities is contracted out to provide municipal buildings and entrance roads. An embezzlement episode is part of the contractual agenda. This will make the county more suitable to provide services to the people

Senate Document 111-6. Memorial Addresses and Other Tributes: Held in the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States Together with Memorial Services in Honor of Edward M. Kennedy, Late a Senator from Massachusetts. includes remarks delivered by prominent members of both Houses of Congress, Democratic and Republican alike, as well as materials documenting specific legislative efforts and accomplishments achieved in collaboration with Senator Kennedy. Also included are transcripts of Senator Kennedy's memorial services.

Laurence Pope describes the contemporary dysfunction of the State Department and its Foreign Service. He contends that in the information age diplomacy is more important than ever, and that, as President Obama has stressed, without a "change of thinking" the U.S. may be drawn into more wars it does not need to fight.

The UK is going through a period of unprecedented constitutional change. There is much unfinished business, and further changes still to come. Where are these changes taking us? In this book, leading political scientists and lawyers forecast the impact of these changes on the UK's key institutions and the constitution as a whole.

Whom a prime minister or president will not shake hands with is still more noticed than with whom they will. Public identity can afford to be ambiguous about friends, but not about enemies. Rodney Barker examines the available accounts of how enmity functions in the cultivation of identity, how essential or avoidable it is, and what the consequences are for the contemporary world.

This book is about a variety of national arrangements and practices, whose common characteristics are to constitute 'presidential republics' and which as such have become the main form of government in the contemporary world.

Examining the foundations of development, Shivakumar describes how societies can reconstitute themselves to improve their developmental well-being. He argues that the unitary state focus in theory and practice limits the creative potential of individuals to improve their mutual well-being through crafting capabilities for self-governance. This is a significant contribution to current discussions on institutional foundations of development, providing practical guidance on what it means to constitute a government that facilitates rather than impedes progress.