Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Publication
- File Type
Articles 1 - 8 of 8
Full-Text Articles in Law
Book Review: The History Of Democracy: A Marxist Interpretation By Brian S. Roper, John Passant
Book Review: The History Of Democracy: A Marxist Interpretation By Brian S. Roper, John Passant
John Passant
Brian Roper's book on the history of democracy from a Marxist perspective is an ambitious one. Roper starts with Athens and Rome and then, as capitalism rises, examines the revolutions in England, America and France and after that the 1848 revolutions across Europe. He then looks at the Paris Commune and The Russian Revolution. In doing this, Roper describes three distinct but related forms of democracy - Athenian democracy which was a form of participatory democracy limited to sections of society; liberal representative democracy which, while nominally open to all, is actually limited to operating within narrow propertied confines; and …
Reconciling Positivism And Realism: Kelsen And Habermas On Democracy And Human Rights, David Ingram
Reconciling Positivism And Realism: Kelsen And Habermas On Democracy And Human Rights, David Ingram
David Ingram
It is well known that Hans Kelsen and Jürgen Habermas invoke realist arguments drawn from social science in defending an international, democratic human rights regime against Carl Schmitt’s attack on the rule of law. However, despite embracing the realist spirit of Kelsen’s legal positivism, Habermas criticizes Kelsen for neglecting to connect the rule of law with a concept of procedural justice (Part I). I argue, to the contrary (Part II), that Kelsen does connect these terms, albeit in a manner that may be best described as functional, rather than conceptual. Indeed, whereas Habermas tends to emphasize a conceptual connection between …
Does Political Islam Conflict With Secular Democracy? Philosophical Reflections On Religion And Politics, David Ingram
Does Political Islam Conflict With Secular Democracy? Philosophical Reflections On Religion And Politics, David Ingram
David Ingram
Abstract: This paper rebuts the thesis that political Islam conflicts with secular democracy. More precisely, it examines three sorts of claims that ostensibly support this thesis: (a) The Muslim religion is incompatible with secular democracy; (b) No Muslim country has instituted secular democracy; and (c) No movement seeking to advance its agenda as aggressively as political Islam does can do so with the degree of moderation required of a political party that is committed to secular democracy. Theologians, philosophers, and political scientists have debated (a) through (c) within the jurisdiction of their respective fields. I propose to combine these debates …
Op-Ed: Banning Protesters An Attack On Democracy, Stephen D'Arcy
Op-Ed: Banning Protesters An Attack On Democracy, Stephen D'Arcy
Stephen D'Arcy
A defence of academic freedom at Western U.
From Undemocratic To Democratic Civil Society: Japan's Volunteer Fire Departments, Mary Alice Haddad
From Undemocratic To Democratic Civil Society: Japan's Volunteer Fire Departments, Mary Alice Haddad
Mary Alice Haddad
How do undemocratic civic organizations become compatible with democratic civil society? How do local organizations merge older patriarchal, hierarchical values and practices with newer more egalitarian, democratic ones? This article tells the story of how volunteer fire departments have done this in Japan. Their transformation from centralized war instrument of an authoritarian regime to local community safety organization of a full-fledged democracy did not happen overnight. A slow process of demographic and value changes helped the organization adjust to more democratic social values and practices. The way in which this organization made the transition offers important lessons for emerging democracies …
Atlantean Prose And The Search For Democracy, Nick J. Sciullo
Atlantean Prose And The Search For Democracy, Nick J. Sciullo
Nick J. Sciullo
Atlantis, the Lost City, has been a focal point of folklore, archeological inquiry, literary criticism, and mystic interpretation. It has boggled the brilliant, confused scientists, and sparked the interest of children. "Skeptics, archaeologists, geologists, and anthropologists may rant and rave, but the myth of Atlantis endures. In every generation, someone emerges to champion the cause and to embroider the story." But the significance of Atlantean prose as an avenue through which to best understand critical legal thought has not been explored in depth. To be sure, there have been numerous books, articles, and opinions analyzing Atlantis, but little attention has …
Sovereignty As Discourse, Robert Tsai
Sovereignty As Discourse, Robert Tsai
Robert L Tsai
This is a review of Howard Schweber's book, "The Language of Liberal Constitutionalism" (Cambridge University Press, 2007). Schweber argues that "the creation of a legitimate constitutional regime depends on a prior commitment to employ constitutional language, and that such a commitment is both the necessary and sufficient condition for constitution making." I critique the power and limits of this reformulated Lockean thesis, as well as Schweber's secondary claims that, for constitutional language to remain legitimate, it must increasingly become autonomous, specialized, and secular.
State Repression: Behind The Mask Of Democracy ..., Ashok Agrwaal
State Repression: Behind The Mask Of Democracy ..., Ashok Agrwaal
Ashok Agrwaal
There has never been a satisfactory solution to the problem of handling / controlling political power, albeit the liberal claim that theirs is the best of the possible solutions known to human history. Notwithstanding the rhetoric justifying the creation and evolution of the modern nation-state, which focuses on its potential – through the ‘Rule of Law’ – to be more just and egalitarian than any other system of organised political power, there is overwhelming empirical evidence to show that things have not changed very much. States continue to repress their citizens in all manner of ways. The difference being that, …