Political Theory Commons^™

Public Reason As Higher Law, Gordon D. Ballingrud

Gordon D Ballingrud

This paper presents a model of higher-law formation by employing a modified version of John Rawls’ idea of public reason. The model specifies a theory of public reason that combines the procedural and substantive aspects of public reason, and extends the concept over a third dimension, time. This concept, by virtue of its multi-generational democratic pedigree, forms a repository of political and legal concepts of justice that conform to the duty of civility, and the broad consensus on political and legal norms required of the content of public reason, which forms the overlapping consensus. Thus, public reason as higher law …

Supermayorías A Nivel Legislativo. Los Problemas Del Debate Y Una Propuesta Metodológica, Sergio Verdugo Sverdugor@Udd.Cl

Sergio Verdugo R.

Se analiza el debate institucional relativo a si deben o no permanecer los quórums legislativos súper-mayoritarios (esto es, aquellos mayores a la mayoría simple) en la Constitución. El autor critica la manera en que la discusión ha tenido lugar desde la perspectiva académica. Luego, revisa los alcances y límites de los argumentos favorables a las supermayorías, defendiendo la idea de que ellas pueden servir de forma instrumental algunos fines legítimos que son compatibles con la democracia. Las implicancias de este trabajo alcanzan a algunas leyes orgánicas constitucionales y, también, a las leyes de quórum calificado, a las que se les …

Justice Stewart Meets The Press, Keith Bybee

Keith J. Bybee

Among the Supreme Court Justices who have articulated distinctive views of free expression, Justice Potter Stewart alone placed particular emphasis on the First Amendment's protection of a free press. Drawing upon the lessons of history, the plain language of the Constitution, the political events of his day, and his own personal experience, Stewart argued that the organized news media should be considered an essential part of the checks-and-balances competition between the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the federal government. Stewart’s emphasis on the special structural function of the established press placed him at odds with most of his colleagues …

Neoliberalism And The Law: How Historical Materialism Can Illuminate Recent Governmental And Judicial Decision Making, Justin Schwartz

Justin Schwartz

Neoliberalism can be understood as the deregulation of the economy from political control by deliberate action or inaction of the state. As such it is both constituted by the law and deeply affects it. I show how the methods of historical materialism can illuminate this phenomenon in all three branches of the the U.S. government. Considering the example the global financial crisis of 2007-08 that began with the housing bubble developing from trade in unregulated and overvalued mortgage backed securities, I show how the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, which established a firewall between commercial and investment banking, allowed this …

Democratic Objection Against Judicial Review Of Legislation. Institutional Design Alternatives And Constitutional Theories, Sergio Verdugo Sverdugor@Udd.Cl

Sergio Verdugo R.

This article reviews the argument through which judicial review of legislation approved by popularly elected bodies, based on the authority of judges who are in a position of preeminence on the other branches of government, is contrary to democracy. Taking Jeremy Waldron´s argument as a central reference, the author discusses some of the assumptions on which the democratic objection of judicial review is elaborated. He argues that separating the notion of constitutional supremacy from the idea of judicial supremacy would allow building a model that overcomes the democratic problem. The author reviews some alternatives provided by institutional designs, and analyses …

El Precedente En El Tribunal Constitucional: ¿Doctrina Judicial O Compromiso Con Votos Particulares?, Sergio Verdugo Sverdugor@Udd.Cl, Nicolás Galli

Sergio Verdugo R.

Se propone una metodología para evaluar la predictibilidad de las sentencias del Tribunal Constitucional considerando la coherencia experimentada en los votos individuales de sus ministros. Tomando algunos casos considerados especialmente relevantes por especialistas consultados, y observando que los ministros disidentes no suelen modificar sus posiciones para seguir las posiciones de la mayoría en casos futuros, se concluye que la mantención de las doctrinas del Tribunal Constitucional dependerá en gran medida de la composición del mismo, y no solamente de lo que se haya expresado en sentencias precedentes.

Radiography To The Chilean Human Rights Institution: Between Law And Politics, Sergio Verdugo Sverdugor@Udd.Cl, José Francisco Garía

Sergio Verdugo R.

The article examines the fundamental recommendations for the national human rights institutions (NHRI) to function with proper autonomy against the state and, also, against NGOs that try to capture the commission´s agenda. The authors analyse the institutional design of the Chilean Human Rights Institution (INDH) and evaluates the profile and the nomination process of its membership. The paper provides evidence that demonstrates that the INDH´s research agenda is associated with a partial political view. Then, the authors suggest certain changes to strengthen the independence of the INDH.

Argumentación Constitucional, Leonardo García Jaramillo

Leonardo García Jaramillo

No abstract provided.

Webs Of Faith As A Source Of Reasonable Disagreement, Gregory Brazeal

Gregory Brazeal

Contemporary political theorists and philosophers of epistemology and religion have often drawn attention to the problem of reasonable disagreement. The idea that deliberators may reasonably persist in a disagreement even under ideal deliberative conditions and even over the long term poses a challenge to the common assumption that rationality should lead to consensus. This essay proposes a previously unrecognized source of reasonable disagreement, based on the notion that an individual's beliefs are rationally related to one another in a fabric of sentences or web of beliefs. The essay argues that an individual's beliefs may not form a single, seamless web, …

"The Endurance Of National Constitutions", Sergio Verdugo Sverdugor@Udd.Cl

Sergio Verdugo R.

No abstract provided.

Unanswered Questions Of A Minority People In International Law: A Comparative Study Between Southern Cameroons & South Sudan, Bernard Sama Mr

Bernard Sama

The month July of 2011 marked the birth of another nation in the World. The distressful journey of a minority people under the watchful eyes of the international community finally paid off with a new nation called the South Sudan . As I watched the South Sudanese celebrate independence on 9 July 2011, I was filled with joy as though they have finally landed. On a promising note, I read the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon saying “[t]ogether, we welcome the Republic of South Sudan to the community of nations. Together, we affirm our commitment to helping it meet its …

How Much Does A Belief Cost?: Revisiting The Marketplace Of Ideas, Gregory Brazeal

Gregory Brazeal

Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. is often credited with creating the metaphor of “the marketplace of ideas,” though he did not use the exact phrase and his argument for free speech was not based on distinctively economic reasoning. Truly economic investigations of the marketplace of ideas have progressed in step with developments and trends in the law and economics literature. These investigations have tended to be one-sided, with writers focusing primarily either on the production of ideas (for example, Posner) or their consumption (for example, behavioral law and economics), without considering in depth how producers and consumers interact. This may …

La Democracia Deliberativa A Debate, Leonardo García Jaramillo

Leonardo García Jaramillo

No abstract provided.

A Lockean Defense Of The Political Question Doctrine's Application In War Powers Cases, Matthew Jordan Cochran

Matthew Jordan Cochran

This article provides a social contract explanation of and justification for the political question doctrine's application in war powers disputes. Natural legal principles demonstrate that even if the doctrine stands on unsure footing in some respects, it properly renders non-justiciable any supposed conflict between Congress and the President. As a detailed look into John Locke's work reveals, the intervening of a judiciary power into war decisions robs a government of the touchstone of its legitimacy.

El Canon Neoconstitucional, Leonardo García Jaramillo, Miguel Carbonell S

Leonardo García Jaramillo

No abstract provided.

Regla De Mayoría Y Democracia: El Caso De Las Leyes Orgánicas Constitucionales, Sergio Verdugo Sverdugor@Udd.Cl

Sergio Verdugo R.

No abstract provided.

Reseña A "Derechos Humanos Como Límite A La Democracia", Leonardo García Jaramillo

Leonardo García Jaramillo

No abstract provided.

Reseña A "Filosofía De La Democracia", Leonardo García Jaramillo

Leonardo García Jaramillo

No abstract provided.

La Democracia Deliberativa En Las Sociedades Semiperiféricas. Una Apología, Leonardo García Jaramillo

Leonardo García Jaramillo

No abstract provided.

Relativism, Reflective Equilibrium, And Justice, Justin Schwartz

Justin Schwartz

THIS PAPER IS THE CO-WINNER OF THE FRED BERGER PRIZE IN PHILOSOPHY OF LAW FOR THE 1999 AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE BEST PUBLISHED PAPER IN THE PREVIOUS TWO YEARS.

The conflict between liberal legal theory and critical legal studies (CLS) is often framed as a matter of whether there is a theory of justice that the law should embody which all rational people could or must accept. In a divided society, the CLS critique of this view is overwhelming: there is no such justice that can command universal assent. But the liberal critique of CLS, that it degenerates into …