Law Commons^™

Procedure As A Guarantee Of Democracy: The Legacy Of The Perestroika Parliament, Frances H. Foster

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In this Article, the author chronicles the rise and fall of the "perestroika parliament." While Gorbachev's reforms were ultimately unsuccessful in producing effective democratic representation, the author believes that the history of these reforms provides some valuable lessons for post-Soviet Russia. Specifically, Professor Foster concludes that current reformers in Russia should learn from the failed perestroika parliament that a democratic, "rule-of-law" state requires uniform lawmaking procedures with constitutional safeguards to guarantee their integrity.

Customary Practice And The People's Voice: Separation Of Powers And Foreign Affairs, Harold G. Maier

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

CONSTITUTIONALISM, DEMOCRACY, AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS

By Louis Henkin

New York: Columbia University Press, 1990. Pp. viii, 125

This short book brings to bear Professor Henkin's vast experience as a teacher and scholar in United States foreign relations law on a contemporary examination of constitutional separation of powers principles in determining the appropriate roles of the three federal governmental branches in the conduct of foreign affairs. In this context, the author asks, "Is our two-hundred year old constitution satisfactory for its third century?" After an excursion through the principal issues most germane to an answer, he concludes that "there is no …