Kategoria BISAC: Political Science >> Constitutions

In this provocative new account of the framing of the Constitution, Robertson observes that the Federalist Papers represented only one side in a fierce argument that was settled by compromise--in fact, multiple compromises. Drawing on numerous primary sources, Robertson unravels the...

The White Earth Nation of Anishinaabeg Natives ratified in 2009a new constitution, the first indigenous democratic constitution, on a reservation in Minnesota. Many Native constitutions were written by the federal government, and with little knowledge of the people and cultures. The White Earth Nation set out to create a constitution that reflected its own culture. The resulting document provides a clear Native perspective on sovereignty, independent governance, traditional leadership values, and the importance of individual and human rights.

This volume includes the text of the...

Gerhardt, one of our leading legal experts, tells the story of The Forgotten Presidents. He surveys thirteen administrations in chronological order, from Martin Van Buren to Franklin Pierce to...

Politicians and pundits often scorn polarization and compromise--the intransigence of the former and the feebleness of the latter--without suggesting an alternative way. Polarization, when opposing forces are equal or close to equal in strength, leads to stalemate. Compromise threatens to betray one's conviction about what is essential. Ideally, a leader must combine conviction about what ought to be done with an open-minded awareness of unintended consequences.

The social sciences are or should be based, largely, on the premise that people are historical and social beings....

Australia's constitutions tell only part of the story. They omit or barely mention many of the essential and well-known elements of the system of government, such as the cabinet, the prime minister or premier, ministerial responsibility or the opposition.

The difference between what exists on paper and what occurs in practice arises from binding, yet unwritten constitutional rules or 'constitutional conventions'. This is a subject that has given rise to much misunderstanding but on which little has been written in Australia, despite the critical role of conventions in systems of...

The relationship between EU law and national constitutional law, including constitutional law in federalism matters, has been subject to an ongoing scholarly debate. Beyond Federal Dogmatics contributes to this debate in two ways. Stef Feyen argues for an approach to constitutional law that goes beyond the classic, "dogmatic") understanding of constitutional case law regarding federalism as expounded in Belgian academia. Building on that basis, he sets out to rethink the framework within which the connection between EU law and national constitutional law can be understood. The...

Rarely is it possible to hear the voice of the people in a revolution except as it filters through the writings of articulate individuals who may not really be representative. But on several occasions during the effort to draft a constitution for Massachusetts after 1776, the citizens of the Commonwealth were asked to convene in their 300 town meetings to debate and convey to the legislators their political theories, needs, and aspirations. This book presents the transcribed debates and the replies returned to Boston which constitute a unique body of material documenting the political...