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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political structure & processes > Constitution, government & the state
This book examines what 'republicanism' meant to the Americans who drafted and ratified the United States Constitution, guaranteeing a 'republican form of government' to every state in the Union. M.N.S.Sellers compares the writings and speeches of the founders with the authors they read and imitated to identify the central tenets of American republicanism, and to demonstrate that American republican though directly reflected classical models, rather than a mediating tradition of English or continental political theory.
The National Assembly for Wales was established in 1999, granting the people of Wales a parliament for the first time in nearly six centuries. The Assembly was intended to create a parliamentary culture of open, inclusive, and modern democracy that stood apart from the Houses of Parliament in London. Based on anthropological fieldwork, this informative book analyzes how power in Wales is legitimated and justified. William Schumann's intriguing argument makes the case that contradictory political practices exist which affirm elected officials as public representatives while also reproducing the subordinate status of Wales within the institutional hierarchies of the United Kingdom and European Union.
This is the first comprehensive study of one of our most popular yet most misunderstood presidents. Reaching well beyond the image of Ford as "healer" of a war-torn and scandal-ridden nation, John Robert Greene extends and revises our understanding of Ford's struggles to restore credibility to the presidency in the wake of Watergate and Vietnam. Few presidents had ever been asked to achieve so much in so little time against such great adversity. Greene shows that Ford's efforts to lead the nation were severely hampered by Nixon's misdeeds, by America's ignominious disengagement from an unpopular war, and by a watchdog Congress eager to put a brake on presidential power. Working from a wealth of recently declassified documents, Greene reveals new evidence on Ford's roles in Watergate and challenges the prevailing view of the infamous Mayaguez incident. He argues persuasively that Ford made no "deal" with Nixon, but that his pardon of Nixon was costly nonetheless, for it shadowed his entire presidency thereafter. He also shows that the Mayaguez catastrophe was less a simple "rescue mission" than it was an attempt to revive sagging political fortunes by attacking Cambodia. In addition, Greene details Ford's rise to prominence within the Republican Party; chronicles the president's problematic relations with his staff, the new Democratic Congress, and Ronald Reagan; sheds new light on the selection and performance of Vice-President Nelson Rockefeller; offers new insights into the election of 1976; and provides the first in-depth look at Ford's Amnesty Program for Vietnam Era Draft Evaders. Based on interviews with Ford and more than sixty individuals who figured prominently in his presidency and on extensive use of the Ford Library, Greene's study illuminates Ford's valiant efforts during some of the presidency's most troubled years.
This book is a study of the impact of globalization on our political institutions and concepts. It begins with an analysis of the global economy, as this is the most powerful of the engines of globalization, then proceeds to examine the impact of the currents of globalization on national sovereignty, national identity, the structure of government, the role of government, and on the lives of individual human beings. It concludes by sketching several issues which globalization presents to political philosophy.
Many consider President-Elect Obama to be the foremost orator of his generation. This Special Inauguration Edition compiles eighteen great speeches by Barack Obama and three additional contextually relevant speeches by other politicians. The book also has a brief chronology of his life, and reprints the text of the emancipation proclamation and the thirteenth and fourteenth amendments to the constitution. ***** This collection includes his speech against going to war in Iraq, his keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention (the speech that propelled him to national fame), his speech at the Jefferson-Jackson dinner, his insightful speech on race relations (responding to the Reverend Jeremiah Wright controversy) and his speech given after winning the general election. *****
This book explores the German idea of federalism denoting 'diversity withinunity'. Historians, linguists and political scientists examine how federalism emerged in the Holy Roman Empire, was re-shaped by 19th Century cultural movements, and was adopted by the unified state in 1871 and again after 1945. The myth of federalism as a safeguard against totalitarianism is tested in regard to the Third Reich and the GDR. The book concludes with an outlook on German federalism's future in Europe.
This collection of essays examines the historical influence of states in East Asia's political economies, and considers their contributions to the ongoing social, economic and political transformation of the countries in this region. They show that the status of these so-called developmental states have evolved over time, and that their role and capacity have been significantly related to the social bases and cultural roots of the relevant countries.
Study of church and state in the United States is incredibly
complex. Scholars working in this area have backgrounds in law,
religious studies, history, theology, and politics, among other
fields. Historically, they have focused on particular angles or
dimensions of the church-state relationship, because the field is
so vast. The results have mostly been monographs that focus only on
narrow cross-sections of the field, and the few works that do aim
to give larger perspectives are reference works of factual
compendia, which offer little or no analysis.
An examination of issues surrounding the development and future prospects of civil society in Eastern Europe. The contributions, mostly by leading East European scholars, relate the key concept of civil society to the processes that led to the collapse of communism and which bear on prospects for the establishment of a democratic order throughout the region. The development of the concept is placed in historical and comparitive context and subjected to critical scrutiny in the light of recent events in Eastern Europe. The rise of a civil society in Eastern Europe and evaluation of its future prospects is related to questions like those surrounding economic policy and reform, elite formation and leadership recruitment and the nature of the women's movement in the region. The series aims to provide theoretical insights into the dynamics of East European communism and the nature of the post-communist order.
An examination of how the (hyper)local is the locus of real changeMany of America's downtowns, waterfronts, and innovation districts have experienced significant revitalization and reinvestment in recent years, but concentrated poverty and racial segregation remain persistent across thousands of urban, suburban, and rural neighborhoods. The coronavirus pandemic magnified this sustained and growing landscape of inequality. Uneven patterns of economic growth and investment require a shift in how communities are governed and managed. This shift must take into account the changing socioeconomic realities of regions and the pressing need to bring inclusive economic growth and prosperity to more people and places. In this context, place-based ("hyperlocal") governance structures in the United States and around the globe have been both part of the problem and part of the solution. These organizations range from community land trusts to business improvement districts to neighborhood councils. However, very little systematic research has documented the full diversity and evolution of these organizations as part of one interrelated field. Hyperlocal helps fill that gap by describing the challenges and opportunities of "place governance." The chapters in Hyperlocal explore both the tensions and benefits associated with governing places in an increasingly fragmented and inequitable economic landscape. Together they explore the potential of place governance to give stakeholders a structure through which to share ideas, voice concerns, advocate for investments, and co-design strategies with others both inside and outside their place. They also discuss how place governance can serve the interests of some stakeholders over others, in turn exacerbating wealth-based inequities within and across communities. Finally, they highlight innovative financing, organizing, and ownership models for creating and sustaining more effective and inclusive place governance structures. The authors hope to provoke new thinking among place governance practitioners, policymakers, private sector leaders, urban planners, scholars, students, and philanthropists about how, why, and for whom place governance matters. The book also provides guidance on how to improve place governance practice to benefit more people and places.
The issues and controversies surrounding the creation of our federal republic--and the rights of the federal government--have reverberated through many watershed events in the 200+ years of American history. This book will help students to debate those issues as they played out in eight crises from 1787 to the beginning of the 21st century. Expert commentary and 54 primary documents contemporary to the time were carefully selected to represent a variety of views on each issue. Events range from the creation of the federal republic to the ongoing controversy over women's rights. Primary documents include presidential letters and speeches, newspaper opinion pieces, first-person accounts and letters, Supreme Court decisions, congressional debates, statutes, resolutions, and political party platforms. A narrative introduction to the issue of federalism over American history will help students contextualize the events in context. A chronology and bibliography of books and Web sites will assist the student researcher.
Eight political scientists offer their analyses of the political situations, institutions, and future of democracy in the regions of Western Europe, North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa and the Near East, South Asia, East Asia and the Pacific, and the Soviet Union and eastern Europe. The contributors survey the movement in these regions toward or away from democracy.
South Africa supposedly has one of the best Constitutions in the world, one which is intended to control and constrain the exercise of power by the state so that it does not threaten the liberty and security of citizens. But, in reality, does the Constitution contribute more to the security of some groups than others? Does it help to ensure certain types of security but not others? And does it have greater impact on some institutions than others? The book is based on the assumption that the Constitution has a significant impact on the security of South African citizens and communities but that this impact is differential. The chapters in the book explore what kind of differential impact the Constitution has, explain what accounts for the differences, examine the consequences of the different impact and consider whether there are any general observations and hypotheses that emerge from comparative perspectives.
This text is the second volume in a series of books on democratic consolidation in Eastern Europe. The first volume focused on the issue of institutional engineering. This second volume analyzes the external parameters of democratic consolidation in 13 Eastern European countries, exploring how different international actors and various economic, cultural and security types of transnational pressures have shaped democratic politics in the region. The aim is to contrast a set of democracy theories with empirical evidence accumulated in Eastern Europe over the last ten years of the 20th century. The volume tries to avoid complex debates about definitions, methods and the uses and misuses of comparative research. Instead it seeks to establish what has really happened in the region, and which of the existing theories are helpful in explaining these developments The volume is divided into two parts. The first part presents a conceptual and comparative frame of analysis, the second consists of detailed studies of individual countries undergoing democratic consolidation.
This book examines the right to a neutral and detached decisionmaker as interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court. This right resides in the Constitution's Fifth Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment guarantees to procedural due process and in the Sixth Amendment's promise of an impartial jury. Supreme Court cases on these topics are the vehicles to understand how these constitutional rights have come alive. First, the book surveys the right to an impartial jury in criminal cases by telling the stories of defendants whose convictions were overturned after they were the victims of prejudicial pretrial publicity, mob justice, and discriminatory jury selection. Next, the book articulates how our modern notion of judicial impartiality was forged by the Court striking down cases where judges were bribed, where they had other direct financial stakes in the outcome of the case, and where a judge decided the case of a major campaign supporter. Finally, the book traces the development of the right to a neutral decisionmaker in quasi-judicial, non-court settings, including cases involving parole revocation, medical license review, mental health commitments, prison discipline, and enemy combatants. Each chapter begins with the typically shocking facts of these cases being retold, and each chapter ends with a critical examination of the Supreme Court's ultimate decisions in these cases.
This book analyses the new pattern of security concerns of the Central Asian successor states. This region is said to encompass Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tadzhikistan, Kirghizstan and Turkmenistan. The main contention of the book is that the security problems of these states are similar to those that faced other 'Third World' countries after they attained independence. That is, due to the arbitrary creation of these states by external powers they lack a certain degree of societal cohesiveness arising from the fact that several ethnic communities reside within their borders. It is this so-called 'insecurity dilemma' of each of the Central Asian states that is therefore examined.
When Hong Kong is reunited with China on 1 July 1997 China will face a great challenge: to preserve the prosperity and stability that Hong Kong has achieved under the British legacy of a democratic free-enterprise system and an efficient but noninterfering government. China proposes to link its own traditionally socialist economy and communist political system with Hong Kong under a 'one country-two systems' plan. Cultural and historical forces suggest that this marriage of opposites may well succeed.
If free and fair elections are the heart of our prized democratic system of government, the integrity of our electoral system must be beyond question. Yet all too often, flaws in the administration of our elections have undermined public confidence in the results. This volume is virtually unique in focusing closely on the procedural problems of our electoral system, including those posed by the computerization of voting systems. The author analyzes events in the electoral history of the United States (and, tangentially, of certain other nations) to reveal the particular dynamics of democratic electoral systems that permit purportedly free and fair elections to subvert rather than express the public will. Past electoral crises shedding light on our electoral deficiencies are chronicled in detail, allowing the author to diagnose systemic failures that can, he contends, be remedied in order to strengthen our democratic system. Chapters focus on current laws and procedures regarding voter registration, provisional ballots, absentee ballots, computerized voting systems, and the Electoral College. The author recommends specific reforms in all these areas that will safeguard our democratic heritage and ensure that the voice of the people is heard. The book presents often-complex material in lucid prose, illuminating issues vital to democracy. BLSystematic exploration of election administration BLHistorical and comparative perspective BLChronology BLGlossary BLAnnotated bibliography of print and electronic materials for further study
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