Arts and Humanities Commons^™

How Do We Know When Political Societies Change?, Peter Aschenbrenner

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

Predicates, features, attributes and properties of a system are liable to change. How does the change get marked down? For this purpose what facet of a system should command our attention? Any system worth the name, Our Constitutional Logic argues, is aware of its own standing in civil society. OCL considers the issues raised.

Table Annexed To Article: The Text Of The Standing Orders Of The Federal Convention: Jackson’S And Madison’S Texts Surveyed, Peter Aschenbrenner

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

Drawing on Farrand’s Records of the Federal Convention of 1787, Vol. 1, Our Constitutional Logic has reconciled the differences between the text of the standing Orders as presented in the text of William Jackson, the convention’s secretary, and James Madison, the convention’s semi-official reporter, both as edited by Max Farrand. This text will appear in Basic Texts in the Founding of Parliamentary Science Originating from the United Kingdom and United States (in MR Text Format), 2 OCL 136_5; in turn, OCL is producing the first concordance of these texts in Founding the Science of Parliamentary Procedure, 1785-1789: Basic Texts in …

Thomas Jefferson’S First Inaugural Address In Mr Text Format (March 4, 1801) With Observations On The Tyranny Of The Majority And Tyranny Of The Minority, Peter Aschenbrenner

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

Our Constitutional Logic presents the 1,724 words of Thomas Jefferson’s First Inaugural Address, delivered March 4, 1801. The table annexed hereto presents this work in MR Text format. For OCL’s present purpose TJ’s invocation of TOM-TOM – the mathematical logic which supplies no convenient repose between the tyranny of the majority and the tyranny of the minority – is drawn to the reader’s attention.

Ambedkar And Constituent Assembly, Vivek Kumar Srivastava Dr.

Vivek Kumar Srivastava Dr.

Ambedkar was instrumental in drafting of India constitution but he had his own vision for the constitution.

Table Annexed To Article: Governments I And Ii Govern The Northwest Territories, Peter Aschenbrenner

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

Our Constitutional Logic presents, in both RC text and PDF text format, the legislative output of the Continental Congress and the first federal Congress by which the Northwest Territories were organized and brought within the orbit of the political society governed by the United States.

Details Of Political And Civil Service For Thirty-Five General Officers Serving In The Second War For American Independence, Peter Aschenbrenner

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

Our Constitutional Logic has supplied A Census of Thirty-Five General Officers Appointed By Madison Before or During The Second War for American Independence, 2 OCL 915_Generals_Main; that project surveyed the 35 general officers who served in the regular army from June, 1812 through February, 1815, during the Second War for American Independence. The political and civil offices for each officer are named along with years of service and a total for all such civilian service

An Introduction To Quorum Issues At The Federal Convention, Peter Aschenbrenner

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

The first Standing Order of the federal convention directed voting by states under a ‘one state, one vote’ formula, but without the fatal ‘one state, one veto’ formula which Rhode Island abused in the Confederation Congress. “A House to do business shall consist of the Deputies of not less than seven States; and all questions shall be decided by the greater number of these which shall be fully represented; but a less number than seven may adjourn from day to day.” See A Survey of the Standing Orders of the Federal Convention and the Differences Between Jackson’s and Madison’s Text, …

Calling All Senators: Can A Few States Overthrow The Government?, Peter Aschenbrenner

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

Our Constitutional Logic analyzes the mathematical logic of quorum requirements for the United States Senate in the early American republic. Constitutions I and II provided quorum minimums as counts and proportions; Constitution II set forth a proportional quorum (“majority of members”) requirement for legislative action but its action requirement must be teased out, at least for the Senate. Threats arising from any would-be tyranny of the minority are addressed as an introduction to The Vice-President’s Two Votes: Introducing the Mathematical Logic of TOM-TOM, 17 OCL 185, in which the Tyranny of the Majority and Tyranny of the Minority receive attention.

Details Of Committee Membership At The Federal Convention, Peter Aschenbrenner

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

From May 25 through September 13, 1787 the convention appointed twelve committees of which eleven reported. (The work of the Committee of the Whole House, technically not a committee, is addressed elsewhere.) Our Constitutional Logic calendars the committees by full name, date established and the date on which it reported to the convention. Each delegate’s assignments are then detailed and cumulated; the reader can identify the ‘never serving’ delegates – there are 19 of 55 who never served – and the workhorse delegates: King and Williamson served on five committees apiece, with King taking ‘top committeeman’ honours based on his …

The Standard Model Introduced, Peter Aschenbrenner

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

The standard model offers civil society’s perspective on the creation, management and disposition of political society. There is a one-to-one relationship between a civil society and a political society. Each political society creates, manages and disposes of systems. Taken as a system-of-systems, a political society fulfills service missions on behalf of and at the behest of the civil society. Agreement on this point may be drawn from Aristotle to Burke: civil society views a political society as a contrivance to fulfill its needs. Our Constitutional Logic offers three purposes of political societies considered as constructs within civil or bourgeois society: …

The Standard Model And Its Service Missions, Peter Aschenbrenner

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

The standard model offers civil society’s perspective on the creation, management and disposition of political society. For purposes of this investigation, political societies are treated as chartered organizations. Taken as a system-of-systems, a political society fulfills service missions on behalf of and at the behest of the civil society. What are service missions? What are types of service missions? And how do they differ from systems? Our Constitutional Logic answers these questions.

Table Annexed To Article: Detailed Delegate Attendance Table Updating Farrand’S Records Of The Federal Convention: May 25, 1787-September 17, 1787, Peter Aschenbrenner, David Kimball

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

Fifty-five delegates were appointed by twelve states to attend the 1787 federal constitutional convention: the first day of business was held May 25, 1787. Twenty-nine delegates attended the session on that day, the low-water mark; forty-five attended on June 15, the high-point for delegate appearances. OCL updates the attendance data, which was last surveyed in Farrand's Records, 3 Farrand 586-590 (rev. ed. 1937).

Table Annexed To Article: Calling All Senators, Peter Aschenbrenner

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

Our Constitutional Logic analyzes the mathematical logic of quorum requirements for the United States Senate in the early American republic. Constitutions I and II provided quorum minimums as counts and proportions; Constitution II set forth a proportional quorum (“majority of members”) requirement for legislative action but its action requirement must be teased out, at least for the Senate. Threats arising from any would-be tyranny of the minority are addressed as an introduction to The Vice-President’s Two Votes: Introducing the Mathematical Logic of TOM-TOM, 17 OCL 185, in which the Tyranny of the Majority and Tyranny of the Minority receive attention.

The Capture Of The City Of Washington In Mr Text Format, Peter Aschenbrenner

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

The first post-mortem on the fall of Washington, commissioned from a committee of the House of Representatives under the leadership of Richard M. Johnson of kentucky, appeared in the American State Papers, Military Affairs subdivision, as Doc. No. 137, at Pages 524-599. The work was published in Washington by Gales and Seaton with documents of Congressional provenance selected by the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House. The Capture is not merely an exemplar of public history, the actors who participate in the events they relate self-consciously vouch for their role as historians of the moment. “In …

Six Things That Went Wrong With Delegate Descriptions Of Their Behavior At The Federal Convention, Peter Aschenbrenner

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

Our Constitutional Logic asks, ‘Can delegate participation at the federal convention be taken as one element in a framework (such as a citation hierarchy) which framework, by design, accounts for convention behavior both individual and collective?’ I answer this question by turning it back on the delegates themselves.’ ‘Could they have anticipated that the voices of one or two delegates would be preferred over all others?’ Six patterns of behavior should be taken into account. OCL surveys the possibilities.

Hatsell’S Precedents Of Proceedings (Vol. 2, 2nd Ed., 1785) Extracted For Comparison With The Standing Orders Of The Philadelphia Convention, Peter Aschenbrenner

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

John Hatsell served as Assistant Clerk to the House of Commons (later Clerk) and his four-volume Precedents of Proceedings has achieved a well-deserved iconic status among students of parliamentary practice. Our Constitutional Logic has extracted 58,277 words from Vol. 2, 2nd ed., 1785 for comparison with four principal American texts consisting of procedural rules in legislative assemblies and the federal convention. All five texts now appear in Five Basic Texts in the Founding of Parliamentary Science Originating from the United Kingdom and United States (in MR Text Format), 2 OCL 136_5; in turn, OCL is producing the first concordance of …

Table Annexed To Article: Details Of Committee Membership At The Federal Convention, Peter Aschenbrenner

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

From May 25 through September 13, 1787 the convention appointed twelve committees of which eleven reported. (The work of the Committee of the Whole House, technically not a committee, is addressed elsewhere.) Our Constitutional Logic calendars the committees by full name, date established and the date on which it reported to the convention. Each delegate’s assignments are then detailed and cumulated; the reader can identify the ‘never serving’ delegates – there are 19 of 55 who never served – and the workhorse delegates: King and Williamson served on five committees apiece, with King taking ‘top committeeman’ honours based on his …

The History Of Firearm Magazines And Magazine Prohibitions, David B. Kopel

David B Kopel

In recent years, the prohibition of firearms magazines has become an important topic of law and policy debate. This Article details the history of magazines and of magazine prohibition.

Because ten rounds is an oft-proposed figure for magazine bans, Part I of the Article provides the story of such magazines from the earliest sixteenth century onward. Although some people think that multi-shot guns did not appear until Samuel Colt invented the revolver in the 1830s, multi-shot guns predate Col. Colt by over two centuries.

Especially because the Supreme Court’s decision in District of Columbia v. Heller considers whether arms are …

Table Annexed To Article: Surveying The 831 Unique Words In The Philadelphia Constitution, Peter Aschenbrenner

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

Of the 831 unique words in the Philadelphia Constitution, what were the most frequently used words? The least? OCL lists all unique words in rank order with and without frequencies, accounting for the word total of 4,321 words in the Philadelphia Constitution.

The Colony-Making Power Of Congress Priced In The Purchase Of Alaska, Peter Aschenbrenner

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

There is certainly no power given by the Constitution to the Federal Government to establish or maintain colonies bordering on the United States or at a distance, to be ruled and governed at its own pleasure, Our Constitutional Logic paraphrases the immediate cause of the Civil War, with citation to Dred Scott’s case at 60 U.S. 393, 446 (1857). That, however, is not the only defect in the purchase of Alaska from the Czar of the Russias. Our Constitutional Logic investigates the non-Euclidean geometry pertinent to the treaty’s boundaries such as they might appear on the sphere near you.

Madison's Redans, Ravelins And Bastions: A Short History Of The War Of 1812, Peter Aschenbrenner

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

The employment of earthworks and breastworks in defense of dense communities is considered in light of the advice of Baron Henri de Jomini which the Secretary of Defense transmitted before Madison appointed. Because the Secretary failed to follow the Baron’s advice – which the Secretary had transmitted into print culture as Hints to Young Generals – Madison sacked him after the battle of Bladensburg.

Ages Of The Delegates At The Federal Convention: Early Birds And Worms?, Peter Aschenbrenner

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

Of the fifty-five delegates who attended the federal convention at Philadelphia in 1787, the median in age was Oliver Ellsworth of Connecticut, thirty-two years old. The delegate with the median remaining life span was Jacob Broom of Delaware (thirty-three years). The early arrivers were neither older nor younger than the others. Nor were they marked down for a shorter or longer remaining lifespan.

Initial Federal Offices Created/Contemplated By The Philadelphia Constitution, Peter Aschenbrenner

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

Whether commands, permission, or prohibitions are trafficked, this three-way division credited to Jeremy Bentham, spatial logic dictates that for every office there must be, sooner or later, an office holder. The one hundred and seven offices created or contemplated by the Philadelphia Constitution are surveyed.

Table Annexed To Article: Unique Words In Constitutions I And Ii Surveyed, Peter Aschenbrenner

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

Constitution I and Constitution II are surveyed with all words treated as appearing only once; that is, appearing uniquely. The texture of the two constitutions is presented with comparative lists of the 775 unique words of Constitution I with the 831 unique words of Constitution II; the 406 unique words of Constitution II which appear in Constitution I are calendared.

The Reannexation Of Alaska, By Russia, Reconsidered, Peter Aschenbrenner

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

Each house district shall be formed of contiguous and compact territory containing as nearly as practicable a relatively integrated socio-economic area, in paraphrase, the Alaska Constitution (Article VI) enjoins. However, when the current potentate of all that is Russia considers reannexation of all that is Alaska, the results must be calendared accordingly to their respective merits.

The Tension Between Normativity And Plurality In Religious Dogmas And In Constitutional Principles, Vinicius Pintas Marinho

Vinicius Pintas Marinho

This essay briefly analyzes whether the tension between normativity and plurality in religious dogmas may shed a light in the similar tension also found in the dynamics of constitutional principles. The application of Gadamer’s hermeneutical theory to a transcendental theological framework is placed into conversation with Dworkin’s integrity of the law. This is undertaken through a comparison between the dynamics of conversation for religious dogmas as symbols of a tradition and the function of constitutional principles in the context of Ronald Dworkin’s theory of law as integrity.

Table Annexed To Article: Madison's Apology For The Fall Of Washington In Mr Text, Peter Aschenbrenner

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

As for his explanation for his failed leadership in support of regular and militia forces at Bladensburg, Madison held his fire during his lifetime; posthumous publication of important and highly nuanced writings – amounting to his apology to the nation for his failures – were finally acquired by Congress and published in 1865 (the Lippincott edition). Of four groupings of documents his Memorandum, dated August 24, 1814 and his Memorandum, referencing August 29, 1814, both written long afterwards are presented in MR text format by Our Constitutional Logic.

Table Annexed To Article: The Art Of War By Baron Henri De Jomini In Mr Text, Peter Aschenbrenner

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

The Baron Henri de Jomini’s Grand Tactique, first published in France (1805), went through a number of different editions and appeared under different titles and in different series throughout the first half of the Nineteenth Century. Although a reduction/translation of the work appears as John Armstrong’s Hints to Young Generals, which Our Constitutional Logic has published (for the first time) in MR text at 2 OCL 651, Jomini’s Grand Tactique was not faithfully rendered into English until 1862 (with a follow on printing in 1865) by Capt. G.H. Mendell and Lt. W.P. Craighill. Since OCL has compared this edition with …

Madison’S Semantic Purity Project And Its Sisters, Peter Aschenbrenner

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

Madison’s semantic purity project foundered on a reef of Hamiltonian dimensions; its lack of success should intensify our interest in all of its programmatic aspects. This broader view is provided by treating two of JM’s projects – named as Madison’s Ratifications: Exploiting Ratification Debates and Madison’s Taxonomy: Fifteen Methods of Constitutional Reasoning – as co-equal to Madison’s Semantic Purity: Procedures at Risk. The article follows on The Doctrine of Semantic Purity: Madison’s Project (and its Difficulties) Introduced, 2 OCL 798

Table Annexed To Article: Bentham’S 1789 Footnote To The Introduction To The Principles Of Morals And Legisation [Revised Edition, 1789], Peter Aschenbrenner

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

In the 1789 (revised edition) of Jeremy Bentham’s The Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, Bentham appended a footnote of 4,089 words. First, Our Constitutional Logic leaves various identifiable exceptions to one side. Second, Bentham’s sentences may be taken in natural or semi-regimented style. All laws may be divided into three types: commands, prohibitions and permissions. Leaving to one side Bentham’s wheelbarrow of neologisms, ‘Bentham’s Sieve’ receives its due attention.