Law Commons^™

Objectivity And Democracy, David K. Millon

David K. Millon

As a response to skepticism about the possibility of objectivity in legal decisionmaking conventionalism posits the shared understandings of the legal profession (about method and the implications of doctrine) as the source of constraint in legal interpretation. In this Article, Professor Millon argues that conventionalism's proponents have failed to offer an adequate account of interpretive constraint, but that conventionalism properly understood can nevertheless provide a useful perspective on the possibility of objectivity in legal interpretation. This account locates interpretive constraint in the practices of the legal profession as a whole, acting as an "interpretive community" or constituting a distinctive "language-game" …

Langston Hughes: The Ethics Of Melancholy Citizenship, Robert L. Tsai

Robert L Tsai

As a body of work, the poetry of Langston Hughes presents a vision of how members of a political community ought to comport themselves, particularly when politics yield few tangible solutions to their problems. Confronted with human degradation and bitter disappointment, the best course of action may be to abide by the ethics of melancholy citizenship. A mournful disposition is associated with four democratic virtues: candor, pensiveness, fortitude, and self-abnegation. Together, these four characteristics lead us away from democratic heartbreak and toward political renewal. Hughes’s war-themed poems offer a richly layered example of melancholy ethics in action. They reveal how …

The Bill Of Rights And The Emerging Democracies, Jacek Kurczewski, Barry Sullivan

Barry Sullivan

Today, the influence of the US Bill of Rights can be traced through its remote offspring, including the Helsinki Agreement, the German Basic Law, the post-war French constitutions, and the European Convention on Human Rights. These documents have influenced recent developments in the emerging democracies of eastern and central Europe.

Op-Ed: Banning Protesters An Attack On Democracy, Stephen D'Arcy

Stephen D'Arcy

A defence of academic freedom at Western U.

Direct (Anti-)Democracy, Maxwell L. Stearns

Maxwell L. Stearns

Legal scholars, economists, and political scientists are divided on whether voter initiatives and legislative referendums tend to produce outcomes that are more (or less) majoritarian, efficient, or solicitous of minority concerns than traditional legislation. Scholars also embrace opposing views on which law-making mechanism better promotes citizen engagement, registers preference intensities, encourages compromise, and prevents outcomes masking cycling voter preferences. Despite these disagreements, commentators generally assume that the voting mechanism itself renders plebiscites more democratic than legislative lawmaking. This assumption is mistaken. Although it might seem unimaginable that a lawmaking process that directly engages voters possesses fundamentally antidemocratic features, this Article …

Reconciling Liberty And Equality In The Debate Over Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis, Jessica Knouse

Jessica A. Knouse

This article draws on postmodern theory to develop a framework for analyzing situations in which liberty and equality appear to conflict. It uses the debate over non-therapeutic preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) as an example. While PGD is, at present, almost entirely unregulated within the United States, there seems to be relative consensus that “therapeutic” or “medical” trait selection – e.g., selection against certain genetic and chromosomal disorders – should per permitted. There is, however, substantial disagreement as to whether “non-therapeutic” trait selection – e.g., selection based on parental preference for a particular sex, disability, eye color, hair color, or skin …

Die Zukunft Ist Transnational, Richard Falk, Andrew Strauss

Andrew L. Strauss

No abstract provided.

The Structural Constitutional Principle Of Republican Legitimacy, Mark D. Rosen

Mark D. Rosen

Democracy does not spontaneously occur by citizens gathering to choose laws. Instead, representative democracy takes place within an extensive legal framework that determines such matters as who gets to vote, how campaigns are conducted, and what conditions must be met for representatives to make valid law. Many of the “rules of the road” that operationalize republicanism have been subject to constitutional challenges in recent decades. For example, lawsuits have been brought against partisan gerrymandering—which is partly responsible for the fact that most congressional districts are no longer party competitive, but instead are either safely Republican or safely Democratic—and against onerous …

Избирательное Право Как Институт Конституционного Права Соединенных Штатов Америки, Leonid G. Berlyavskiy

Leonid G. Berlyavskiy

El Derecho A Votar Desde El Extranjero, Pablo Marshall

Pablo Marshall

This paper presents certain elements, mainly taken from comparative law and political theory, which can make more intelligible the discussion on the vote from abroad in the Chilean political system. The first part of this work shows the importance of discussing its foundation by clarifying some of its philosophical premises. The second part of this paper examines the constitutional reform bill that was rejected by Congress, concluding that it was affected by significant theoretical problems. Finally, the third part of the paper considers the particular elements that legislation on voting from abroad should consider.