Search results for "Political Science"
showing 10 items of 7570 documents
The Constitution of Latvia – A Bridge Between Traditions and Modernity
2019
The Latvian constitutional system is based on the principle of State continuity after the Soviet occupation, and this is reflected in the reinstatement of the 1922 Constitution (Satversme). Unlike other constitutions in the post-communist area, it is characterised as a laconic and predominantly procedural constitution. However, important amendments were introduced in 1996 and 1998, establishing the Constitutional Court and introducing a catalogue of fundamental rights. The constitutional culture has been influenced by German traditions in constitutional jurisprudence, and the adjudication of legislation on substantive grounds has been stringent. This is particularly evident in the annulment…
The Continuity of the Constitutions: The Examples of the Baltic States and Georgia
2016
In the paper I will analyze the renewal of the constitution in the Baltic States and Georgia after the collapse of the socialist system. The renewal of the old constitutions are infrequent events in the world. In the Baltic States and Georgia, the restoration of the old constitutions had symbolic and political importance, reinforcing the doctrine of state continuity and legitimizing the new constitutional order after the transformation. I also will analyze the legal force of the constitutions after the occupation of the Baltic States by the USSR. The constitutions were of particular importance for the national resistance movements, since the validity of the constitutions was grounds for exi…
Political Extremism and Rationality
2002
Political extremism is widely considered to be the product of irrational behavior. Originally published in 2002, the distinguishing feature of this collection by well-known economists and political scientists from North America, Europe and Australia is to propose a variety of explanations which all insist on the rationality of extremism. Contributors use variants of this approach to shed light on subjects such as the conditions under which democratic parties take extremist positions, the relationship between extremism and conformism, the strategies adopted by revolutionary movements, and the reasons why extremism often leads to violence. The authors identify four core issues in the study of…
El nacionalismo vasco en el marco constitucional de la II República Española (1931-1936)
2019
El presente artículo aborda el recorrido del nacionalismo vasco durante la II República Española y su adecuación al nuevo marco constitucional. En él se explora la centralidad que el PNV tuvo desde el inicio y los recelos que despertó su proyecto hegemónico en Euskadi desde las élites republicanas españolas, que lo consideraban abiertamente contrario a los valores, principios y objetivos de la Constitución de 1931 This article analyzes the life of Basque nationalism during the Second Spanish Republic and its adequation to the new constitutional framework. The author explores the centrality of the Basque Nationalist Party from the very beginning and its rejection by republican Spanish elites…
Historical Overview of the Romanian Constitutionalism
2011
The history of the Romanian constitution and constitutionalism is closely linked to the 19th and 20th centuries. The 19th century meant the birth of the national unitary Romanian state and the building of the modern constitutional system by way of the massive constitutional transplant from the Western constitutional models. Breaking with the past was abrupt therefore just few ideas, institutions and practices remained as an organic linkage with the political and constitutional past.
Somali Contract Law: Constitutional and Comparative Perspectives
2019
The Somali legal system had a very peculiar development. After colonisation, the independent country adopted a Civil law based legal system largely influenced by Italian law. The Civil Code adopted in 1973 was modeled on the Egyptian homologue enriched with other influences, mainly Italian. From the constitutional perspective, the country had three constitutions before the collapse of the state, followed recently by a provisional constitution that introduces a federal system to try to keep the unity of the State under the federal umbrella. The 1973 Somali Civil Code is formally still in force, as after the fall of Siad Barre the state failure brought with it the lack of any authority capabl…
Elections ordinaires et aménagements constitutionnels
2001
It is widely held that voting in the course of ordinary elections has no significant influence on the constitutional regime or order of a country. At least three powerful arguments are provided in support of that view. First, to claim that, at the same time as they play, players can change the rules is, to say the least, logically puzzling. A second argument refers to the motivations and possibilities of voters : voters, this argument says, are not really interested in constitutional issues and, even if they were, are particularly ill-equiped to understand their implications. The third argument rests on the observation of what obtains in practice : as a matter of fact, constitutional issues…
Reforms and decentralization: friends or foes
2013
Systemic concerns about markets, capitalism and the role of the state in the economy are salient again. Relatively large-scale reforms of economic and social arrangements are seriously considered. Historical experience suggests that reforms of that kind are sometimes associated with important changes in institutional arrangements pertaining to political decentralization. To explore the relationship between economic reforms and decentralization, the paper argues that a reform has two dimensions. It is a process and it is a design. The organization of the paper is inspired by that distinction. For economists, it seems natural to reason in terms of design -- that is, to perceive reform as the …
Language Planning in Latvia as a Struggle for National Sovereignty
2018
Focuses in particular on the language policies of the Second Independence period, directed at ensuring the Latvian language the status of sole official language of the country. The chapter also examines the Russian-Latvian ethno-linguistic ‘cleavage’ in the context of the new language policies.
Communication of Science Advice to Government
2015
There are various ways to construct good processes for soliciting and understanding science. Our critique of advisory models finds that a well-supported chief science advisor (CSA) best ensures the provision of deliberative, informal, and emergency advice to government. Alternatively, bias, increasingly manifest as science-based advocacy, can hinder communication, diminish credibility, and distort scientific evidence.