Political Theory Commons^™

Toward A New Constitutional Anatomy, Victoria Nourse

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

There is an important sense in which our Constitution's structure is not what it appears to be--a set of activities or functions or geographies, the 'judicial" or the "executive" or the "legislative" power, the "truly local and the truly national. "Indeed, it is only if we put these notions to the side that we can come to grips with the importance of the generative provisions of the Constitution: the provisions that actually create our federal government; that bind citizens, through voting, to a House of Representatives, to a Senate, to a President, and even, indirectly, to a Supreme Court. In …

John F. Kennedy And West Virginia, 1960-1963, Anthony W. Ponton

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

In 1960, John F. Kennedy, a wealthy New England Catholic, traveled to a rural, Protestant state to contend in an election that few thought he could win. While many scholars have examined the impact of Kennedy’s victory in the West Virginia primary, few have analyzed the importance that his visit to the state in 1960 and his ensuing administration had on West Virginia. Kennedy enacted a number of policies directed specifically toward relieving the poverty that had plagued West Virginia since statehood. The Kennedy administration funded highway construction, worker training programs, and area development at levels the state had never …

Rethinking Crime Legislation: History And Harshness, Victoria Nourse

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

There is a truth about the criminal law that scholars evade as much as they criticize: the criminal law is produced by legislators (rather than the experts). The author states she does not know of any way to make law in a democracy other than through the voters' representatives. And, yet, it is the standard pose of the criminal law scholar to denigrate legislatures and politicians as vindictive, hysterical, or stupid. All of these things may be true but name-calling is a poor substitute for analysis. As in constitutional law, so too in criminal law, it is time to put …

Islam And Politics In Modern Egypt: A Chance For Democracy, Madalina C. Hanes

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper analyzes the role played by moderate Islamic groups in modem Egypt and tries to make a distinction between moderate, middle-of-the road groups and radical, extremist ones. There are several questions regarding the topic analyzed in this thesis. Is Islam inherently incompatible with the Western democratic values? Is there a difference between moderate and radical Islamic movements? Is the Muslim Brotherhood promoting an Islamic democracy and would that stabilize and improve the tormented Egyptian society? Based of library research of primary and secondary sources, this thesis argues that moderate Islamic groups, like the Muslim Brotherhood, represent the best hope …

Addressing Fundamentalism By Legal And Spiritual Means, Dan Wessner

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Religion and Humane Global Governance by Richard A. Falk. New York: Palgrave, 2001. 191 pp.

Gender and Human Rights in Islam and International Law: Equal before Allah, Unequal before Man? by Shaheen Sardar Ali. The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 2000. 358 pp.

Religious Fundamentalisms and the Human Rights of Women edited by Courtney W. Howland. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1999. 326 pp.

The Islamic Quest for Democracy, Pluralism, and Human Rights by Ahmad S. Moussalli. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2001. 226 pp.

Reconceptualizing Criminal Law Defenses, Victoria Nourse

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In 1933, one of the leading theorists of the criminal law, Jerome Michael, wrote openly of the criminal law "as an instrument of the state." Today, criminal law is largely allergic to claims of political theory; commentators obsess about theories of deterrence and retribution, and the technical details of model codes and sentencing grids, but rarely speak of institutional effects or political commitments. In this article, the author aims to change that emphasis and to examine the criminal law as a tool for governance. Her approach is explicitly constructive: it accepts the criminal law that we have, places it in …

Questioning The Universality Of Human Rights, Paul J. Magnarella

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Universal Human Rights? edited by Robert G. Patman. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2000. 244pp.

and

Dealing with Human Rights: Asian and Western Views on the Value of Human Rights edited by Martha Meijer. Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian Press, 2001. 183pp.

and

The Philosophy of Human Rights by Patrick Hayden. St. Paul: Paragon House, 2001. 686pp.

Politics, Pragmatism, And Human Rights, Todd Landman

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Human Rights Horizons: The Pursuit of Justice in a Globalizing World by Richard A. Falk. New York: Routledge, 2000. 288pp.

and

Human Rights as Politics and Idolatry by Michael Ignatieff (edited by Amy Guttman). Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001. 187pp.

Opening The Dichotomy Of Universalism And Relativism, Chih-Yu Shih

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Negotiating Culture and Human Rights edited by Linda S. Bell, Andrew J. Nathan and Ilan Peleg. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001. 428 pp.

and

East Meets West: Human Rights and Democracy in East Asia by Daniel A. Bell. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000. 369 pp.

Al-Khilafah Al-Islamiyyah Menurut Al-Quran : Suatu Kajian Terhadap Kefahaman Masyarakat Islam Di Kuala Lumpur, Abu Zaki Ismail

Student Works (2000-2009)

Kajian ini membincangkan tentang konsep khilafah di dalam Islam berdasarkan kepada perspektif yang dipaparkan di dalam al-Quran. Kajian disasarkan kepada tahap kefahaman masyarakat Islam Malaysia, khususnya di Kuala Lumpur. Sejarah khilllfah Islam yang gilang gemilang telah diakhiri oleh keruntuhan sistem tersebut dengan kejatuhan pemerintahan Islam Turki cUthmaniyyah pada tahun 1924 M. Lantaran itu, muncullah suara-suara di kalangan umat Islam dan ulamaknya untuk kembali kepada sistem khi/Qfah Islam. Penulis cuba melihat reaksi masyarakat Islam sendiri terhadap seruan tersebut selain dari mengenal pasti kefahaman mereka terhadap konsep khilii fah Islam seperti yang digagaskan oleh al-Qur'an. Hasil daripada kajian ini, penuhs dapati: 1. …

The Positive Political Theory Of Cost-Benefit Analysis: A Comment On Johnston, Matthew D. Adler

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Democracy And Legitimation: A Response To Professor Guinier, Louis Michael Seidman

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This essay is a response to Supreme Democracy: Bush v. Gore Redux, an essay by Lani Guinier (2002).

The author critiques Professor Lani Guinier’s essay through a discussion of the maldistribution of wealth in American society, which he argues is accepted by American people thanks to the existence complex structures that allow them to distance themselves from it. He discusses four legitimation structures as he critiques this essay.

Professor Guinier focuses on the belief in meritocracy. For our purposes, we might define a believer in meritocracy as someone who thinks that, in a given society, people get more or less …

Reefer Madness: How Voters Responded To Medicinal Marijuana Initiatives In The 1998 State Elections, Ryan E. Wood

Masters Theses

In recent years, a growing number of states have witnessed the passage of state initiatives that have authorized the medicinal use of marijuana. The medicinal marijuana movement has circumvented elected state legislatures by relying on an increasingly popular form of direct democracy - the direct initiative. This paper briefly examines the history and continuing legacy of illicit drugs and the initiative process in the context of the movement for medicinal marijuana. However, the primary focus of this study is to uncover the voter characteristics that influenced attitudes toward medicinal marijuana in the 1998 state elections. This paper uses Voter News …

Jihad Politik : Suatu Analisis Pemikiran Sa`Id Hawwa, Muhammad Pisol Mat Isa

Student Works (2000-2009)

Kajian ini adalah berbentuk Library research. Tujuan utama adalah untuk melihat proses perjalanan politik mengikut kaca mata Islam dan juga menjelaskan beberapa kekeliruan umat Islam dalam isu politik. Kajian ini juga cuba mengulaskan beberapa isu pokok seperti isu pengundian, pembinaan parti Islam, membina negara Islam, menyertai pilihan raya, berbilangan jemaah, bekerja dalam kerajaan bukan Islam, proses penurunan pemimpin melalui kaedah demokrasi dan lain-lain. Kajian ini mengambil Said Hawwa sebagai asas kajian pemikiran. ini kerana penulis mendapati beliau adalah antara tokoh yang terlibat secara langsung dalam politik dan banyak menulis buku-buku yang berkaitan dengannya. Hal ini memudahkan penulis mendapat maklumat dan …

Nativism In American Political Culture, Julie M. Wacker

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this discussion is to dispel the notion that the United States is and always has been a polity grounded in egalitarian ideals and open political processes. We should not ignore or make light of injustices such as slavery, segregation, Eurocentric immigration policies, and social and economic discrimination that have played a major part in our history. If only for the sake of historical accuracy, we should not dismiss these trends as temporary lapses in judgment in an otherwise open and plural society.

Yet some scholars do make the claim that we are a country founded on the …

Three Limitations Of Deliberative Democracy: Identity Politics, Bad Faith, And Indeterminancy, William H. Simon

Faculty Scholarship

In Democracy and Disagreement, Amy Gutmann and Dennis Thompson elaborate a liberal political style designed to complement the substantive liberalism they and others have developed in recent years. The style they portray is deliberative, and its essence is the appeal to principle.

Memorandum From University Of Illinois College Of Law Professor Ronald D. Rotunda Memorandum To The Honorable Kenneth W. Starr Regarding Whether A Sitting President Is Subject To Indictment [Portions Redacted], Ronald D. Rotunda

United States Department of Justice: Publications

Re: Indictability of the President, with particular respect to whether President Bill Clinton could be charged with indictable offenses while in federal office.

Excerpt from the New York Times article: “It is proper, constitutional, and legal for a federal grand jury to indict a sitting president for serious criminal acts that are not part of, and are contrary to, the president’s official duties,” the Starr office memo concludes. “In this country, no one, even President Clinton, is above the law.”

The Constitutional Right To "Conservative" Revolution, David C. Williams

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

As A Matter Of Factions: The Budgetary Implications Of Shifting Factional Control In Japan’S Ldp, Mathew D. Mccubbins, Michael F. Thies

Faculty Scholarship

For 38 years, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) maintained single-party control over the Japanese government. This lack of partisan turnover in government has frustrated attempts to explain Japanese government policy changes using political variables. In this paper, we look for intraparty changes that may have led to changes in Japanese budgetary policy. Using a simple model of agenda-setting, we hypothesize that changes in which intraparty factions “control” the LDP affect the party’s decisions over spending priorities systematically. This runs contrary to the received wisdom in the voluminous literature on LDP factions, which asserts that factions, whatever their raison d’être, do …

The People: The Least Accountable Branch, Marci A. Hamilton

Articles

No abstract provided.

Commentary: Noam Chomsky And Judicial Review, James G. Wilson

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Although Chomsky has never discussed judicial review in any detail, he recently made several interesting observations. He believes America's governmental structure remains acceptable, even desirable, even though all three federal branches have not just failed to protect us from private power's excesses but instead have devoted far too much of their energy and power to enhancing private power. The constitutional text creates a unique relationship between the Supreme Court and private power. Because the Court is staffed by unelected Justices who need not pander for money to be reelected, it is more independent of the rich and powerful than either …

By Hook Or By Cook: Exploring The Legality Of An Ins Sting Operation, Lenni B. Benson

San Diego Law Review

The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) is an agency with responsibility both for enforcing the immigration laws and conferring legal status and other benefits. This author finds that at times these dual roles create conflict, mistrust in the community, and violations of the rights of aliens. This Article critically examines an undercover operation conducted in 1993 by the San Diego District Office, which lured aliens to deportation through INS offers of legal status. The Article discusses the regulatory and statutory provisions governing INS undercover operations and the rights of aliens subject to final orders of deportation. It continues with an …

Judicial Review Of Discretionary Immigration Decisionmaking, Michael G. Heyman

San Diego Law Review

The Immigration and Nationality Act vests enormous discretion in the Attorney General and subordinates, such discretion exercised frequently at all levels of the immigration system. Despite this, though, judicial review of these decisions has followed a very uneven, troubled course. This Article explores the reasons for this, focusing first on the Administrative Procedure Act and the elusive meaning of discretion itself. The author demonstrates the "disintegration" of administrative law and what he sees as the failure of its general precepts to accommodate immigration issues. The Article traces the development of faulty doctrine through case law, resulting in a stunted judicial …

Entry: What Mama Never Told You About Being There, Kathrin S. Mautino

San Diego Law Review

This Article analyzes the development of entry as an immigration concept, with special attention to those factors that affect entry analysis. These elements that the author finds must be considered in every potential entry into the United States are: (1) the legal status of the alien, (2) the purpose for finding an entry, and (3) the congressional intent behind the statutes involved. This Article explores the legal history of the term "entry," and illustrates the interaction of the three factors above. The author concludes that entry analysis demonstrates the political nature of immigration and the frequency that historical events rather …

Population, Immigration And Growth In California, Richard Sybert

San Diego Law Review

This Article presents objective data and analysis regarding the components of California's population growth. It also reviews fiscal impacts from immigration. The author finds that these fiscal impacts are substantially negative for state and local governments. The Article also examines United States workforce needs as they may be affected by an expanding population and as they may implicate immigration. The author recommends changing immigration policy to focus more on workforce needs and skills in California. He recommends federal action on two levels: (1) to compensate California for the hugely disproportionate financial burden it bears from the nation's immigration and refugee …

No-Fault Marital Dissolution: The Bitter Triumph Of Naked Divorce, J Herbie Difonzo

San Diego Law Review

In this Article, the author examines the origins of the no-fault divorce movement, concluding that the abandonment of fault grounds was conceived as a conservative measure intended to facilitate the reversal of the escalating divorce rate and to replace traditional marital dissolution with therapeutic divorce. This reform collapsed at mid-point, achieving only the jettisoning of divorce grounds. The author argues that an unintended consequence of the reform battle was the transformation from mutual consent divorce, the operating milieu for most of the twentieth century, into divorce on demand. The author concludes that this transformation has resulted in a significant loss …

Should Federal Evidence Rules Trump State Tort Policy? The Federalism Values Daubert Ignored, Michael H. Gottesman

Cardozo Law Review

I want to explore issues that the Supreme Court should have addressed in Daubert but did not. The Court decided that Rule 702 of the Federal Rules of Evidence ("FRE") assigns a "gatekeeping" function to federal trial judges, who are to exclude expert scientific opinions that do not meet a standard of "reliability" vaguely sketched out in the Court's opinion.

The Daubert case involved exclusively state substantive law issues and was in federal court only because the defendant removed it from state court on the basis of diversity of citizenship. The Court held the gatekeeping function applicable in diversity actions, …

Against First Principles, Jerry L. Mashaw

San Diego Law Review

This Article makes the argument that broad principles often get in the way of sensible public policy analysis and that one should be prepared to abandon them rather quickly when encountering heavy philosophical or political arguments. The author uses Richard Epstein's book Forbidden Grounds: The Case Against Employment Discrimination as a good example of the difficulty of developing plausible policy prescriptions while engaging in an argument based on broad principles. The Article notes weaknesses in Epstein's arguments concerning liberty, utility and efficiency as starting points for an evaluation of antidiscrimination law. The author applies his analysis to the Americans with …

Religious Contributions In Public Deliberation, Jeremy Waldron

San Diego Law Review

This Article commences with an excerpt from a "Pastoral Letter on Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy" published in 1986 by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. Through this letter, the author leads us to the question, "What part should doctrines and arguments rooted in religious beliefs play in public debate?" The author views such religious contributions as relevant to secular politics. He recommends that people value rethinking the structure of their premises, and see the value of an open, challenging, and indeterminate form of public deliberation in which nothing is taken for granted. He concludes that we can …

Democratic Discussion, Don Herzog, Donald R. Kinder

Book Chapters

"Democracy," remarked H. L. Mencken, "is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard." Mencken found American politics a droll spectacle and showered contempt on the dullards he named "the booboisie." Plenty of other intelligent and perceptive observers have concluded that ordinary citizens are flatly incapable of shouldering the burdens of democracy. Uninformed and uninterested, absorbed in the pressing business of private life, unable to trace out the consequences of political action, citizens possess neither the skills nor the resources required for what Walter Bagehot pithily named "government by discussion." …