Suchergebnisse

In this essay on the Kenyan constitutional reform referendum (2002), the author comments on the present state of the Kenyan constitution to argue that the new draft offers limited advantages to the new democracy. The current document is asserted to be an essentially colonial document that was produced in London, & maintains the status quo of underwriting property rights, & the centralized authoritarianism of the (settler) colonial state. Contestation of the constitution is described as a three way struggle between the government, political parties, & the civil society bodies. The new Wako draft, drawn up solely by Parliament, is labeled as a hijacking of the process by the politicians, and is yet a contested document. J. Harwell

A ZLRev. article on constitutional reforms in Botswana. ; The purpose of this article is to identify aspects of Botswana's Constitution that need to be reviewed in order to keep pace with the international human rights culture and also to deepen democracy in Botswana. A few areas have been identified for a brief discussion. This does not mean that these are the only areas that need to be reviewed. There are many others. The selected areas are, in the view of the author, amongst the most pressing. These areas are: electoral, gender, labour, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and entrenchment of socio-economic rights in the constitution. Where appropriate this article suggests the way forward.

Constitutional reform is an issue which provides common ground for both the Alliance and the Left, and could be back on the political agenda if a coalition government was formed after the next general election. The history of the debate and the policy options available are explored in this article. (JLN)

Introduction : making sense of the Icelandic constitutional reform / Catherine Dupré -- The President and the Constitution/ Guðni Th. Jóhannesson -- The reform of the 1944 Constitution and Icelandic constitutionalism / Ágúst Þór Árnason and Catherine Dupré -- Iceland's near-death experience / Kristrún Heimisdóttir -- The role and impact of the constitutional commission in preparing the constitutional revision / Björg Thorarensen -- The work of the 2011 constitutional council : a democratic experiment in constitution-making / Salvör Nordal -- Crowdsourcing the 2011 proposal for a new constitution : when experts and crowd disagree / Jón Ólafsson -- The 2011 proposal for a new constitution : analysis and critical comments / Skúli Magnússon -- The 2016 Bill of the Constitutional Committee : three proposals for reforming the 1944 Constitution / Páll Þórhallsson -- Natural resources and the reform of the Icelandic Constitution / Ragnheiður Elfa Þorsteinsdóttir -- Would Article 79 of the 2016 Bill make much difference? some considerations on the legal consequences of the proposed constitutional environmental provision / Aðalheiður Jóhannsdóttir -- Iceland's new constitution is not solely a local concern / Thorvaldur Gylfason -- A politician's perspective / Katrín Jakobsdóttir -- Conclusion : What has changed? / Catherine Dupré.

Not Many years ago most political scientists accepted the proposition that it is the spirit and tradition of a political system rather than its structure that informs and governs its operation. We may regard such a proposition as a truism; yet its acceptance came in the wake of what might be called the "second era" of democratic reform in the United States. That era had seen the destruction of the old system of making nominations and the rise of party regulation, the adoption of direct primary elections, and of other devices for direct government, such as the initiative, referendum and recall. It had seen, likewise, the enactment of corrupt practice acts, the growth of the merit system in the choice of civil service personnel, the turn to the popular election of United States senators, attempts at administrative reorganization and other devices for increasing the voter's control over his government.