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Articles 1 - 30 of 114
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Saving Democracy From The Senate, David Froomkin, A. Michael Froomkin
Saving Democracy From The Senate, David Froomkin, A. Michael Froomkin
Utah Law Review
It should not be surprising that Americans say they are frustrated with their national institutions. Congress, particularly the Senate, responds poorly to the public’s needs and wants because it is increasingly unrepresentative of the electorate. Reform is difficult, however, because each state’s “equal Suffrage” in the Senate is protected by a unique constitutional entrenchment clause. The Entrenchment Clause creates a genuine bar to reform, but that bar is not insurmountable. We first argue that the constitutional proscription on reforming the Senate has been overstated, identifying a range of constitutional reform options that would be permissible despite the Entrenchment Clause. Several …
Lost In The Thicket, Brad Snyder
Lost In The Thicket, Brad Snyder
Touro Law Review
As part of a symposium on his biography of Felix Frankfurter, Democratic Justice, Brad Snyder revisits Baker v. Carr and explores the contrasts between Justice William Brennan’s judicially supremacist majority opinion and Frankfurter’s departmentalist dissent and unheeded warnings about empowering the judiciary. As Frankfurter wrote in his Baker dissent, he placed more faith in the U.S. Congress, as opposed to the judiciary, to protect democracy.
Defeat Fascism, Transform Democracy: Mapping Academic Resources, Reframing The Fundamentals, And Organizing For Collective Actions, Francisco Valdes
Defeat Fascism, Transform Democracy: Mapping Academic Resources, Reframing The Fundamentals, And Organizing For Collective Actions, Francisco Valdes
Seattle University Law Review
The information we gathered during 2021–2023 shows that critical faculty and other academic resources are present throughout most of U.S. legal academia. Counting only full-time faculty, our limited research identified 778 contacts in 200 schools equating to nearly four contacts on average per school. But no organized critical “core” had coalesced within legal academia or, more broadly, throughout higher education expressly dedicated to defending and advancing critical knowledge and its production up to now. And yet, as the 2021–2022 formation of the Critical (Legal) Collective (“CLC”) outlined below demonstrates, many academics sense or acknowledge the need for greater cohesion among …
The Uncertain Future Of Constitutional Democracy In The Era Of Populism: Chile And Beyond, Samuel Issacharoff, Sergio Verdugo
The Uncertain Future Of Constitutional Democracy In The Era Of Populism: Chile And Beyond, Samuel Issacharoff, Sergio Verdugo
University of Miami Law Review
Largely missing from the extensive discussions of populism and illiberal democracy is the emerging question of 21st century constitutionalism. Nowadays, it is hard to see relevant constitutional changes without a strong appeal to direct popular political participation. Institutional mechanisms such as referenda, citizens’ assemblies, and constitutional conventions emerge as near-universal parts of the canon of every academic and political discussion on how constitutions should be enacted and amended. This Article’s aim is to offer a cautionary approach to the way participatory mechanisms can work in constitution-making and to stress the difference between the power to ratify constitutional proposals and the …
Press Freedom Under Threat In Europe: Slapps And Democracy, Maya Oleary-Cyr
Press Freedom Under Threat In Europe: Slapps And Democracy, Maya Oleary-Cyr
Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union
This paper critically examines the legal systems of European countries and their relationship to press freedom, particularly the vexatious legal threats used by government officials and corporations to silence journalists. These legal threats are known as SLAPPs (strategic lawsuits against public participation) and their use has increased exponentially in the last decade. Although the issue is global, this research analyzes the issue through the lens of Greece, Italy, and Hungary. As member states, each one of these countries has an obligation to uphold the democratic standards put forth by the EU. Journalists are a vital aspect of the democratic process …
Advancing America’S Emblematic Right: Doctrinal Bases For The Fundamental Constitutional Right To Vote Per Se, Susan H. Bitensky
Advancing America’S Emblematic Right: Doctrinal Bases For The Fundamental Constitutional Right To Vote Per Se, Susan H. Bitensky
University of Miami Law Review
This Article identifies and examines the Supreme Court’s longstanding unintelligibility with respect to recognition of a fundamental right to vote per se under the Constitution. In a host of equal protection cases, the Court’s refusal to “say what the law is” in this regard has produced a chaotic jurisprudence on the status of the right. Because ours is a constitutional schema consisting of multiple types of rights to vote, the refusal manifests as judicial reliance on and acclamation of some unspecified right to vote. It is refusal by lack of clarity. The unsorted right has led some scholars to conclude …
Citizen Enforcement Laws Threaten Democracy, David A. Carrillo, Stephen M. Duvernay
Citizen Enforcement Laws Threaten Democracy, David A. Carrillo, Stephen M. Duvernay
Fordham Law Voting Rights and Democracy Forum
No abstract provided.
A Country In Crisis: A Review Of How The Illegitimate Supreme Court Is Rendering Illegitimate Decisions And Doing Damage That Will Not Soon Be Undone., Regina L. Ramsey ,Esq
A Country In Crisis: A Review Of How The Illegitimate Supreme Court Is Rendering Illegitimate Decisions And Doing Damage That Will Not Soon Be Undone., Regina L. Ramsey ,Esq
Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity
This article will discuss in detail exactly how the court is illegitimate and makes decisions that are illegitimate, using examples from the October 2021 term. It will also explain why action needs to be taken immediately to reign in this run-away Court to restore public trust. As discussed herein, we cannot sit by and patiently wait for the Court to right itself over time because there are important issues on the current docket, such as race-conscious admissions policies of colleges and universities to ensure student bodies are diverse as future leaders are prepared to live and work in a diverse …
Countermajoritarian Criminal Law, Michael L. Smith
Countermajoritarian Criminal Law, Michael L. Smith
Pace Law Review
Criminal law pervades American society, subjecting millions to criminal enforcement, prosecution, and punishment every year. All too often, culpability is a minimal or nonexistent aspect of this phenomenon. Criminal law prohibits a wide range of common behaviors and practices, especially when one considers the various federal, state, and municipal levels of law restricting people’s actions. Recent scholarship has criticized not only the scope and impact of these laws but has also critiqued these laws out to the extent that they fail to live up to supermajoritarian ideals that underlie criminal justice.
This Article adds to and amplifies this criticism by …
Increasing Voter Investment In American Democracy: Proposals For Reform, Adam Drake
Increasing Voter Investment In American Democracy: Proposals For Reform, Adam Drake
Fordham Law Voting Rights and Democracy Forum
Millions of Americans choose to stay home every election cycle. Polling suggests that these nonvoters are either apathetic with respect to the democratic process or feel alienated from the United States government. Reforms to the democratic system should focus on alleviating these sentiments, ultimately encouraging more voters to show up to the polls. As turnout increases, so too does the legitimacy and stability of the U.S. government.
With that goal in mind, this Article advocates for a five- prong approach to reforming the electoral system. The first proposed step is to eliminate unnecessary barriers to voting by establishing federal automatic …
Enforcing Interstate Compacts In Federal Systems, Michael Osborn
Enforcing Interstate Compacts In Federal Systems, Michael Osborn
Indiana Journal of Constitutional Design
The central goal of a federal system is for local government units to retain degrees of independence, specifically over matters of importance to that local unit. A logical corollary to that independence is the ability for local units to negotiate and contract with other local units on matters of importance. Therefore, it is not surprising that almost every federal system allows, either implicitly or explicitly, member states to form binding compacts with other states, the union government, or municipalities.1 Some federal democracies even allow member states to compact with foreign governments. Furthermore, almost every federal constitution includes a provision outlining …
Pembubaran Partai Politik Di Indonesia, Ahmad Iskandar Nasution
Pembubaran Partai Politik Di Indonesia, Ahmad Iskandar Nasution
"Dharmasisya” Jurnal Program Magister Hukum FHUI
The indonesian state in democracy always tries to guarantee the rights of its citizens to freedom of association and assembly. This guarantee of human rights is enshrined in the constitution, Undang-Undang Dasar 1945. The right of association and assembly is a vehicle for establishing a political party. In the dynamics of the state, it is always related to the dynamics of political parties. This political party plays a major role in determining the policy direction and goals of a country. The development of a political party can also shake a country, so the need for restrictions on the establishment …
Who Will Save The Redheads? Towards An Anti-Bully Theory Of Judicial Review And Protection Of Democracy, Yaniv Roznai
Who Will Save The Redheads? Towards An Anti-Bully Theory Of Judicial Review And Protection Of Democracy, Yaniv Roznai
William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal
Democracy is in crisis throughout the world. And courts play a key role within this process as a main target of populist leaders and in light of their ability to hinder administrative, legal, and constitutional changes. Focusing on the ability of courts to block constitutional changes, this Article analyzes the main tensions situated at the heart of democratic erosion processes around the world: the conflict between substantive and formal notions of democracy; a conflict between believers and nonbelievers that courts can save democracy; and the tension between strategic and legal considerations courts consider when they face pressure from political branches. …
The Democracy Principle In State Constitutions, Jessica Bulman-Pozen, Miriam Seifter
The Democracy Principle In State Constitutions, Jessica Bulman-Pozen, Miriam Seifter
Michigan Law Review
In recent years, antidemocratic behavior has rippled across the nation. Lame-duck state legislatures have stripped popularly elected governors of their powers; extreme partisan gerrymanders have warped representative institutions; state officials have nullified popularly adopted initiatives. The federal Constitution offers few resources to address these problems, and ballot-box solutions cannot work when antidemocratic actions undermine elections themselves. Commentators increasingly decry the rule of the many by the few.
This Article argues that a vital response has been neglected. State constitutions embody a deep commitment to democracy. Unlike the federal Constitution, they were drafted—and have been repeatedly rewritten and amended— to empower …
Democratizing Education Rights, Joshua E. Weishart
Democratizing Education Rights, Joshua E. Weishart
William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal
If the United States is to reverse its creeping, illiberal descent, generations of youth must emerge from this tribal, post-truth, pandemic-shattered era to mend democracy. Hope for that uncertain future lies in re-engineering how schoolchildren learn democracy-- not from a civics textbook but by experiencing it in the classroom. The sad irony is that we still lack a knowledge base, grounded in research, for that type of democratic education. Nearly two and a half centuries into the republic's existence, our commitment to democratic education is honored more in the breach than in observance. And our uninformed, polarized, and disaffected electorate …
Court-Packing In 2021: Pathways To Democratic Legitimacy, Richard Mailey
Court-Packing In 2021: Pathways To Democratic Legitimacy, Richard Mailey
Seattle University Law Review
This Article asks whether the openness to court-packing expressed by a number of Democratic presidential candidates (e.g., Pete Buttigieg) is democratically defensible. More specifically, it asks whether it is possible to break the apparent link between demagogic populism and court-packing, and it examines three possible ways of doing this via Bruce Ackerman’s dualist theory of constitutional moments—a theory which offers the possibility of legitimating problematic pathways to constitutional change on democratic but non-populist grounds. In the end, the Article suggests that an Ackermanian perspective offers just one, extremely limited pathway to democratically legitimate court-packing in 2021: namely, where a Democratic …
The Unwritten Rules Of Liberal Democracy, Charles W. Collier
The Unwritten Rules Of Liberal Democracy, Charles W. Collier
University of Massachusetts Law Review
This Article is set amidst the distinctly unsettled and unsettling state of governmental practices, legislative policy, and presidential politics of contemporary America. Immediacy, too, introduces its own uncertainty—as compared to the comfortable vantage point of the distant future. But, as I shall argue, there is no realistic alternative to beginning in medias res. To address these issues as they inherently demand, the usual precedents and protocols and precautions must be set aside—if they are not already “gone with the wind.”6 Since the 2016 Presidential Election, and even before, threats to liberal democracy have emerged, in plausible form, as never before …
Court Expansion And The Restoration Of Democracy: The Case For Constitutional Hardball, Aaron Belkin
Court Expansion And The Restoration Of Democracy: The Case For Constitutional Hardball, Aaron Belkin
Pepperdine Law Review
Neither electoral politics, norms preservation, nor modest good government reform can restore the political system because they cannot mitigate the primary threat to the American democracy, Republican radicalism. Those who believe otherwise fail to appreciate how and why radicalism will continue to impede democratic restoration regardless of what happens at the ballot box, misdiagnose the underlying factors that produce and sustain GOP radicalism, and under-estimate the degree of democratic deterioration that has already taken place. Republicans do not need to prevail in every election to forestall the restoration of democracy or to prevent Democrats from governing. The only viable path …
Bill 10, If Enacted, Will Install A Constitutional Dictatorship And Undermine Democracy In Zambia, Muna B. Ndulo
Bill 10, If Enacted, Will Install A Constitutional Dictatorship And Undermine Democracy In Zambia, Muna B. Ndulo
Southern African Journal of Policy and Development
Zambia has made several attempts to elaborate a democratic constitution that promotes good governance, inclusiveness, citizen participation, accountability, and the separation of powers between the three arms of government-parliament, the judiciary, and the executive. Success has been elusive largely because the processes used have been inappropriate for consensus building. The latest attempt, the Constitution Amendment Bill No. 10 of 2019, which came out of a ruling party dominated constitutional conference, is presently before parliament. The constitutional conference excluded key stake holders such as the main opposition party and civil society. The paper critically examines the contents of Bill 10 and …
Laboratory Of Democracy: How The District Of Columbia Is Using The Home Rule Act To Achieve Elements Of Statehood, Walter A. Smith Jr., Kevin M. Hilgers
Laboratory Of Democracy: How The District Of Columbia Is Using The Home Rule Act To Achieve Elements Of Statehood, Walter A. Smith Jr., Kevin M. Hilgers
University of the District of Columbia Law Review
On January 3, 2019, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District of Columbia's (the "District') nonvoting delegate to the House of Representatives, reintroduced the Washington, D.C. Admission Act, which would make much of the District the 51st state. While Norton had made a tradition of opening each new Congress by introducing D.C. democracy bills, the context this time gave District advocates more reason to be optimistic. With the Democrats gaining control of the House, the bill gained a record 155 original cosponsors, and Representative Elijah Cummings, chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, committed to holding a hearing on …
Police Brutality And State-Sanctioned Violence In 21st Century America, Itohen Ihaza
Police Brutality And State-Sanctioned Violence In 21st Century America, Itohen Ihaza
Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity
No abstract provided.
A New Voting Rights Act For A New Century: How Liberalizing The Voting Rights Act’S Bailout Provisions Can Help Pass The Voting Rights Advancement Act Of 2017, Mario Q. Fitzgerald
A New Voting Rights Act For A New Century: How Liberalizing The Voting Rights Act’S Bailout Provisions Can Help Pass The Voting Rights Advancement Act Of 2017, Mario Q. Fitzgerald
Brooklyn Law Review
The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the coverage formula of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) in Shelby County. v. Holder in 2013. Members of Congress have attempted to renew the VRA with an updated coverage formula through the Voting Rights Advancement Acts of 2015 and of 2017. Unfortunately, Congressional Republicans have not supported either bill. Even if passed in its current form, the Supreme Court is likely to strike down the Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2017 (VRAA) for violating the principle of “equal sovereignty between the States” as set forth by the Court in Shelby County. Therefore, this note …
The Republic In Long-Term Perspective, Richard Primus
The Republic In Long-Term Perspective, Richard Primus
Michigan Law Review Online
Every system of government eventually passes away. That's a feature of the human condition. The United States has been an unusually stable polity by the standards of world civilizations, and for that stability Americans should be deeply grateful. But no nation is exempt from the basic forces of history. It is not reasonable to think that the constitutional republic we know will last forever. The question is when it will meet its end-in our lifetimes, or in our grandchildren's, or centuries later. Given the stable conditions that living Americans were socialized to expect, the dominant intuition is probably something like …
The Invalidation Of The Maine Congressional Term Limits Law: A Vindication Of Democracy, David A. Soley
The Invalidation Of The Maine Congressional Term Limits Law: A Vindication Of Democracy, David A. Soley
Maine Law Review
On November 8, 1994, the voters of Maine enacted a term limits law that arbitrarily limited the democratic right to vote for the candidate of their choice. The law provided that Maine's United States Representatives could not appear on the ballot after six consecutive years of service and that Maine's United States Senators could not appear on the election ballot after twelve consecutive years of service. On May 26, 1995, the United States District Court for the District of Maine found that the law was an unconstitutional violation of the Qualifications Clauses of the United States Constitution and permanently enjoined …
The Resilient Foundation Of Democracy: The Legal Deconstruction Of The Washington Posts's Condemnation Of Edward Snowden, Hanna Kim
Indiana Law Journal
On September 17, 2016, The Washington Post (“the Post”) made history by being the first paper to ever call for the criminal prosecution of its own source —Edward Snowden. Yet, two years prior to this editorial, the Post accepted the 2014 Pulitzer Prize in Public Service for its “revelation of widespread secret surveillance by the National Security Agency”—an honor which would not have been bestowed had Snowden not leaked the documents through this news outlet. The other three major media outlets that received and published Snowden’s documents and findings—The Guardian, The New York Times, and The Intercept—all have taken the …
The People Against The Constitution, Aziz Z. Huq
The People Against The Constitution, Aziz Z. Huq
Michigan Law Review
A review of Jan-Werner Müller, What Is Populism?.
A Taxonomy Of Independent Electoral Reapportionment Systems, James Ruley
A Taxonomy Of Independent Electoral Reapportionment Systems, James Ruley
Indiana Journal of Constitutional Design
This paper addresses a means of checking legislative gerrymandering, which I have called the Independent Electoral Reapportionment Commission (IERC). Its purpose is to prevent self-interested politicians from drawing biased constituency lines. While scholars have researched gerrymandering, few scholars have researched commissions designed to limit such gerrymandering, and no comprehensive work details the global means of accomplishing this goal.
Thus, the purpose of this paper is not to normatively prescribe the best practices for composing and empowering an IERC, but rather to descriptively show how different countries conduct this process. While Part II makes some determinations about which commissions may conceptually …
The Democratic First Amendment, Ashutosh Bhagwat
The Democratic First Amendment, Ashutosh Bhagwat
Northwestern University Law Review
Over the past several decades, the Supreme Court and most First Amendment scholars have taken the position that the primary reason why the First Amendment protects freedom of speech is to advance democratic self-governance. In this Article, I will argue that this position, while surely correct insofar as it goes, is also radically incomplete. The fundamental problem is that the Court and, until recently, scholars have focused exclusively on the Religion Clauses and the Free Speech Clause. The rest of the First Amendment—the Press, Assembly, and Petition Clauses—might as well not exist. The topic of this Article is the five …
Unseen Exclusions In Voting And Immigration Law, César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández
Unseen Exclusions In Voting And Immigration Law, César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández
Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity
No abstract provided.
Shelby, Race, And Disability Rights, Ravi Malhotra
Shelby, Race, And Disability Rights, Ravi Malhotra
Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity
No abstract provided.