This book aims to extend the current research and debate in constitutional economics by using a positive economics approach. Born out of discontent with the current state in constitutional economics, this book presents an inquiry in the possibilities of a positive constitutional economics, and how societies choose their constitutional rules.Drawing on economics, the book examines the emergence of constitutions and how and why they change over time. The author proposes that model constitutions are based on, and backed by institutions which have developed spontaneously. He presents some predictions on the scope of constitutional change under various constitutional settings and factors which cause constitutional change. Stefan Voigt concludes that constitutional change is reconceptualized as the outcome of a bargaining game, in which changes reflect the altered bargaining power of the actors. This book will be welcomed by academics working in the fields of political economy, law and economics as well as those from the public choice and new institutional schools of thought.

Nigeria's democratisation efforts since attaining political independence from Britain have been tumultuous and have spanned over three successive republics. A persistent bug decimating Nigeria's democracy and repeatedly leading to military coups has been brazen electoral violence perpetrated by the nation's political elite. Nigeria's 2019 Democratic Experience analyses and explains what went wrong in Nigeria's experiment with democracy. Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation and the world's seventh most populous nation, also contributes 70% of West Africa's population. She is sub-Saharan Africa's largest oil producer and has remained Africa's largest economy by GDP since 2014. The country has hundreds of diverse ethnic nationalities and languages grouped into 36 states (or federating units) and an independent federal capital territory. Though recognized as Africa's largest democracy, her democratisation process since the 1960s has remained tumultuous with massive electoral violence and political intolerance. This repeatedly compelled the military to intervene in the nation's political history in the years 1966, 1983 and 1985. It is these developments that provided the motivation for this volume to capture for posterity the conduct of the 2019 General Elections in Nigeria.

Of the 347 U.S. false criminal convictions overturned so far through DNA testing, 73 percent were based on erroneous eyewitness testimony. How could so many eyewitnesses be wrong? This book answers this question. The analysis of the U.S. Supreme Court eyewitness cases shows that most of the Court's holdings were likely in error. The Court-like the judges and juries in the courts below-greatly overestimated the reliability of eyewitnesses against the defendants and decided their convictions based on unsound evidence. The facts of the cases and personalities of the defendants are engaging and compelling. An expert is needed to inform the judge and the jury of the circumstances to consider when weighing the testimony of the witness against the facts of the case. It is a clear violation of Due Process to deny the defendant the provision of an expert witness in all cases where the eyewitness testimony lacks corroboration. Research assessing both cross-examination and jury instructions makes it abundantly clear that neither can effectively provide courts with the counterintuitive information necessary to evaluate eyewitness reliability: denial of an expert is denial of Due Process.

This edited volume explores the relationship between constitutionalism and populism in the Italian context. Italian populism is of interest to comparative lawyers for many reasons. Firstly, the country has a long-lasting tradition of anti-parliamentarism over the course of its history as a unitary state. After the 2018 general election, it has turned into the first European country in which two self-styled populist parties formed a coalition government. Although it collapsed in August 2019, many issues that it had raised remain. Secondly, as Italy is a founding member of the European Communities, the constitutional implications of populist politics have to be considered not only within the national framework but also in a wider context. This book argues that the relationship between populism and constitutionalism should not be seen in terms of mutual exclusion and perfect opposition. Indeed, populism frequently relies on concepts and categories belonging to the language of constitutionalism (majority, democracy, people), offering a kind of constitutional counter-narrative.

As the current political climate becomes increasingly contentious, the United States' founding document receives added attention. Donald C. Dahlin re-examines the US Constitution, challenging students to form educated opinions on important contemporary discussions. Presenting a limited number of landmark Supreme Court decisions, We the People provides support for multiple sides of a single debate. Each case is carefully contextualized and selections from the justices' rulings are held up for scrutiny. Rich fodder for classroom debate, this volume is both necessary and accessible.

Three of John Locke's finest works, which expound political and religious ideas revolutionary in their time, are presented together in this printing. When Dutch monarch William of Orange ascended to the English throne in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, burning questions over the best form of governance for England were prominent among the intelligentsia of the era. It was a time when England grappled with incremental transition from monarchy to early forms of democracy and voting. In the first treatise of government Locke proceeds to attack and dissect his prominent contemporary Robert Filmer, who was broadly in favour of absolute monarchy under the principle of divine right. The allusions to the Biblical Adam, wherein the monarch can be intimated as a continuation of the first man ever created, are debunked by Locke who asserts that God never asserted that one man had province to rule over all other human beings.

A new reading of The Prince, arguing that the classic text is neither a scientific treatise on politics nor a patriotic tract but rather an artful, elaborated critique of the dominant religion of his time The leading interpretations of The Prince focus on Machiavelli's historical context, but they give little attention to the source on which the moral and political thought of Machiavelli's sixteenth century was based, the Christian Bible. In this study of The Prince, William Parsons plumbs Machiavelli's allusions to the Bible, along with his statements on the Church, and shows that Machiavelli was a careful reader of the Bible and an astute observer of the Church. On this basis Parsons contends that Machiavelli's teaching in The Prince is instructively compared with that of the Church's teacher, Jesus Christ. Parsons thus undertakes what recent interpreters of The Prince have not done: contrast Machiavelli's advice with the teaching of Christ. The result is a new reading of The Prince, revealing in Machiavelli's political thought a systematic critique of the NewTestament and its model for human life, Christ. In this commentary on one of the greatest works on politics ever written, Parsons not only challenges the most recent interpretations of The Prince but also sheds new light onthe classic interpretation that Machiavelli was a teacher of immorality. William Parsons is associate professor of political science at Carroll College.

Examining how the White House works-or doesn't-before and after Trump Donald Trump has reinvented the presidency, transforming it from a well-oiled if sometimes cumbersome institution into what has often seemed to be a one-man show. But even Trump's unorthodox presidency requires institutional support, from a constantly rotating White House staff and cabinet who have sought to carry out-and sometimes resist-the president's direct orders and comply with his many tweets. Nonetheless, the Trump White House still exhibits many features of its predecessors over the past eight decades. When Franklin D. Roosevelt was inaugurated, the White House staff numbered fewer than fifty people, and most federal department were lightly staffed as well. As the United States became a world power, the staff of the Executive Office increased twentyfold, and the staffing of federal agencies blossomed comparably. In the fourth edition of Organizing the Presidency, a landmark volume examining the presidency as an institution, Stephen Hess and James P. Pfiffner argue that the successes and failures of presidents from Roosevelt through Trump have resulted in large part from how the president deployed and used White House staffers and other top officials responsible for carrying out Oval Office policy. Drawing on a wealth of analysis and insight, Organizing the Presidency addresses best practices for managing a presidency that is itself a bureaucracy.

Constitutional Law and Federations provides a concise overview of the British occupation of Cyprus(1878-1959), the efforts of the Greek Cypriots for independence, and the structure and peculiarities of the current Cyprus Constitution. Federal states and the concept of federalism worldwide and, in every era, have come into being because of important political and security reasons dictating or necessitating the creation of such governmental organizations. The bi-zonal federation envisaged for Cyprus, in the Accords of 1977 and 1979 is not in compliance with these prerequisites. According to objective legal norms, bi-communal and bi-zonal federation flagrantly violates international law and is incompatible with the notion of human rights with regard to Cyprus. A federation modelled on the United States of America federal Constitution could, indeed, provide an ideal framework for settling the Cyprus problem and safeguarding the protection of basic human rights and constitutional freedoms for all sections of the population on the island. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of constitutional law, international law and international relations as well as diplomats, who deal not only with the Cyprus issue but also with related regional and international issues.

While great strides have been made since the Founding years, the United States continues to suffer from a high degree of political inequality. Simply put, some citizens have a louder voice in their democracy than others. Both the malapportioned Senate and Electoral College overrepresent Americans in small states, while gerrymandered districts poorly convert votes into power in the House of Representatives. Over four million Americans living in Washington, D.C. and the territories lack representation in Congress, while citizens everywhere face unnecessary burdens to cast ballots. Finally, biased media and questionable political funding render it difficult to hold elected officials accountable. This book explores these formidable problems and identifies the path to securing a fairer, more representative political system. Sourcing solutions directly from the Constitution, chapters outline the tools that could limit malapportionment, expand voting rights, control the influence of big donors and more. Achieving these reforms, however, requires an engaged citizenry that relentlessly demands change from those in power.

How to restore ethics, the rule of law, and democracy as the centerpieces of U.S. government U.S. government has been repeatedly renewed-sometimes simply repaired and other times reinvented-during its over 230 years. Major aspects of the federal system were broken again during the four years of the Trump administration, so it's time for even more fixes. This book sets out the damage that was done and important ideas on how the repairs should be made, focusing on ethics, the rule of law, and democracy. Distinguished scholars and practitioners have come together not only to address what went awry over the past four years, but also the deeper weaknesses that have become more evident, and how those weaknesses can be repaired. The problem areas range from ethics and conflicts of interest to the Hatch Act and big money in politics, and from independence at the Department of Justice and government transparency to reestablishing Congressional oversight, and the government's role in the broader areas of how Americans vote and of international ethics and rule of law. Overcoming Trumpery provides a framework to understand the significant developments that are already happening in Washington with respect to ethics, the rule of law, and democracy. These include the "For the People Act," the "Protecting Our Democracy Act," and President Biden's Executive Order on Ethics. The ideas outlined in this book for fixing flaws in federal governance come from the more than century of collective experience of its expert authors. The book represents a burst of sunshine after a very dark period in the nation's history.

Beginning with an account of Namibia's struggle for self-determination that serves to put the Namibian Constitution in context, this volume moves on to consider the principal features of the Constitution, the organs of state and the fundamental principles that provide the framework for the effective functioning of a democratic State. It goes on to examine the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights and freedoms protected by the Declaration of Rights, analyzing the relevant jurisprudence of the Namibian courts in the light of international human rights law.

For many Americans, hearing the words, "United States of America" brings stirring emotions. It is the concept of e pluribus unum-"out of many, one"-that summarizes the sense of national unity that Americans feel, and one that author Martin Street seeks to convey in "Taking the Pulse of America."

This compendium of 110 essays offers a snapshot of American life today. Street offers opinions and suggestions for many of the most contentious issues of our time. From hot button issues like abortion, illegal immigration, and waterboarding to the justice system, education reform, and government affairs, Street doesn't mince words.

Often, Street's commentary is just as contentious as his subjects. Even so, he provides an honest, authentic voice to these conversations that have become part of our national lexicon. Whether he discusses unions, our throwaway society, or professional athletes, Street gives his straightforward, often politically incorrect opinions.

A call to action for Americans to restore the United States of America to her former glory, "Taking the Pulse of America" is essential reading for every citizen.

This book analyses royal education in nineteenth-century, constitutional Spain. Its main subjects are Isabel II (1830- 1904), Alfonso XII (1857-1885) and Alfonso XIII (1886-1941) during their time as monarchs-in-waiting. Their upbringing was considered an opportunity to shape the future of Spain, reflected the political struggles that emerged during the construction of a liberal state, and allowed for the modernisation of the monarchy. The education of heirs to the throne was taken seriously by contemporaries and assumed wider political, social and cultural significance. This volume is structured around three powerful groups which showed an active interest, influenced, and significantly shaped royal education: the court, the military, and the public. It throws new light on the position of the Spanish monarchy in the constitutional state, its ability to adapt to social, political, and cultural change, and its varied sources of legitimacy, power, and attraction.

"Passages from Antiquity to Feudalism" is a sustained exercise in historical sociology that shows how the slave-based societies of Ancient Greece and Rome eventually became the feudal societies of the Middle Ages. In the course of this study, Anderson vindicates and refines the explanatory power of historical materialism, while casting a fascinating light on the Ancient world, the Germanic invasions, nomadic society, and the different routes taken to feudalism in Northern, Mediterranean, Eastern and Western Europe.
Through this work and its companion volume, "Lineages of the Absolutist State," Anderson presents a Marxist history of Western political development that takes readers from the first stirrings of political consciousness in the classical world to the rise of absolutist monarchies in Europe and the birth of the modern epoch.

Democratic Decision-Making: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives contains eight essays by political scientists addressing various aspects of the democratic decision-making process. The book is divided into four parts: democratic statesmanship, the extent to which limitations of the democratic principle of majority rule are desirable, the contemporary doctrine of "deliberative democracy," and informal modes of democratic decision-making. Under these four headings, the contributors discuss a wide variety of issues, including the practice of "political opportunism" by such statesmen as Hamilton and Madison; the historical development of legal restraints on democracy in America ranging from judicial review (during the colonial period) to the filibuster; the operation of classical Athenian democracy, the defects of which may have been exaggerated by the American Founders; the significance of the reflections of Tammany Hall boss George Washington Plunkitt for the development of the American party system; the relation of deliberative-democracy theory to the thought of Rousseau; and the means by which cooperative land-use agreements have been arrived at in California, eliciting the voluntary consent of the affected parties instead of relying on judicial or bureaucratic dictates. The book is well-suited for use in courses on American political thought, democratic theory, American political development, and related subjects.

The Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution at a level sufficiently general to guide lawmaking while avoiding great detail. This four-page document has guided the United States of America for more than two centuries. The Supreme Court has parsed the document into clauses, which plaintiffs and defendants invoke in cases or controversies before the Court. Some, like the Interstate Commerce Clause, are central to the survival of a government of multiple sovereignties. The practice of observing case precedents allows orderly development of the law and consistent direction to the lower courts. The Court itself claimed the final power of judicial review, despite efforts to the contrary by the executive and legislative branches of the national government and the state supreme courts. The Court then limited its own awesome power through a series of self-imposed rules of justiciability. These rules set the conditions under which the Court may exercise the extraordinary final power of judicial review. Some of these self-imposed limits are prudential, some logical, and some inviting periodic revision. This book examines the detailed unfolding of several Constitutional clauses and the rules of justiciability. For each clause and each rule of justiciability, the book begins with the brilliant foundations laid by Chief Justice John Marshall, then to the anti-Federalist era, the Civil War, the dominance of laissez faire and social Darwinism, the Great Depression redirection, the civil rights era, and finally the often-hapless efforts of Chief Justice Rehnquist.

This book is an insider's account of the way legislative proposals in the Cayman Islands are conceived and processed, as well as the operational context in which the resultant laws are drafted. It is based on the author's well-received earlier publication The Legislative Process: A Handbook for Public Officials (2009). That book was featured significantly in The Parliamentarian: Journal of Commonwealth Parliaments, 2010, Issue 1 XCI. In a review contained in The Loophole: Journal of the Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsel (August, 2010), the reviewer wrote, "In these times of recession I commend this book to anyone in Government wishing to improve processes to enable the production of legislation with improved efficiency and cost effectiveness." And in the Statute Law Review (April, 2010), 31(2), with reference to its suggestions for improved efficiency, it was said that ." . . there is little that can be described as other than good advice here."

Concise and clear in expression, Comparative Government covers contemporary systems of government, as well as relics of the past, in an excellent introduction to the profound study of comparative constitutional law. Dragoljub Popovic has undertaken this task to display the subject in its current stage of development, concentrating on several focal points. Based on research of their characteristic features, decision-making mechanisms and lines of evolution, the author explores parliamentary, presidential, semi-presidential, power sharing and the supra-national level forms of government in an entertaining narrative and provides tools for the reader to classify and understand governments worldwide. Comparative Government will prove essential, for its comprehensive yet concise scope, to students of law, political sciences and international relations, as well as academics in the same areas, civil servants, diplomats, legislation drafters, policy makers and practicing lawyers.

Civil society is one of the most hotly debated topics in contemporary political theory. These debates often assume that a vibrant associational life between individual and state is essential for maintaining liberal democratic institutions. In Uncivil Society, Richard Boyd argues-through a careful reading of such seminal figures as Hobbes, Locke, Burke, Mill, Tocqueville, and Oakeshott-that contemporary theorists have not only tended to ignore the question of which sorts of groups ought to count as "civil society" but they have also unduly discounted the ambivalence of violent and illiberal groups in a liberal democracy. Boyd seeks to correct this conceptual confusion by offering us a better moral taxonomy of the virtue of civility.

Bernie Sanders is one of the most influential figures of our time, a politician who inspires fervent love and, even among his enemies, a measure of grudging respect-yet we know comparatively little about this famously private left-wing firebrand. Now, Ari Rabin-Havt, a trusted Sanders aide, is able to take us where no press features or televised interviews have been able to go. The Fighting Soul is a behind-the-scenes chronicle of Sanders's meteoric 2020 campaign for president-from the first campaign meeting in Rabin-Havt's living room, to Sanders's heart attack and the end of the campaign as the COVID-19 pandemic spread around the world-that deepens into an unforgettable portrait of Sanders. Rabin-Havt unfolds the history that drives his deep ideological commitments to the working class, his views of his young supporters, his sense of humour, which few outside his immediate circle ever witness, and the role his wife, Jane, plays in his success. In the tradition of What It Takes and other exuberant works of American political writing, The Fighting Soul shows the making of the rare politician motivated by principle, not power.

This book discusses in what sense constitutional law has a political dimension, raising the question whether constitutional law is fundamentally political as to its validity, terms of its origin, conceptual structure and/or corresponding practice. It also poses the question whether that dimension is a political-theological dimension. A positive answer to these questions challenges the prevailing view that constitutional law is to be conceived strictly as law, moreover as written law, approved at a certain point in history by a particular power and interpreted as any other law by the judiciary. The essays included in this book, written by leading scholars in constitutional theory - including Martin Loughlin, Paul Kahn, Manon Altwegg-Boussac and Massimo La Torre - address these questions in a timely and original way.