Suchergebnisse

Judicial review by constitutional courts is often presented as a necessary supplement to democracy. This book questions its effectiveness and legitimacy. Drawing on the republican tradition, Richard Bellamy argues that the democratic mechanisms of open elections between competing parties and decision-making by majority rule offer superior and sufficient methods for upholding rights and the rule of law. The absence of popular accountability renders judicial review a form of arbitrary rule which lacks the incentive structure democracy provides to ensure rulers treat the ruled with equal concern and respect. Rights based judicial review undermines the constitutionality of democracy. Its counter-majoritarian bias promotes privileged against unprivileged minorities, while its legalism and focus on individual cases distort public debate. Rather than constraining democracy with written constitutions and greater judicial oversight, attention should be paid to improving democratic processes through such measures as reformed electoral systems and enhanced parliamentary scrutiny

"This book explores liberalism's past and present transformations and proposes a prospective future as a neo-republican democratic liberalism. Bellamy engages with theorists of liberalism from J. S. Mill, through T. H. Green, Guido De Ruggiero, Carl Schmitt and Joseph Schumpeter, to F. A. Hayek, John Rawls and Michael Walzer. He contends that the pluralism and complexity of modern societies have undermined liberalism's communitarian and ethical assumptions. Studies of the Poll Tax fiasco in Britain, and of the constitutional dilemmas posed by the European Union confirm the contemporary inadequacies of traditional conceptions of liberal democracy. Drawing on Max Weber, Bellamy advocates a return to a Machiavellian approach to politics to resolve the clashes resulting from competing values within complex situations. Unlike Weber however, he concentrates on the republican and democratic aspects of Machiavelli's thought. He proposes a republican strategy whereby the political dispersal of power constrains any ideal or interest from dominating another. Instead, everyone must seek mutually acceptable compromises. The essays in "Rethinking Liberalism" map a passage from the liberal democratic norms and forms characteristic of nineteenth-century nation states, to an agnostic, democratic liberal politics suitable for the transnational and plural societies of the new millennium."--Bloomsbury Publishing

Cover Page -- Title Page -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Preface and acknowledgements -- 1. Introduction The unification of Italy - making the ideal real -- 2. Vilfredo Pareto -- 3. Gaetano Mosca -- 4. Antonio Labriola -- 5. Benedetto Croce -- 6. Giovanni Gentile -- 7. Antonio Gramsci -- 8. Bobbio, della Volpe and the 'Italian road to socialism' -- 9. Conclusion Social theory and political action -- Glossary -- Notes -- Select bibliography -- Index -- Back Cover.

Liberty /Ian Carter --Rights: their basis and limits /Catriona McKinnon --Social justice: the place of equal opportunity /Andrew Mason --Political obligation /Rex Martin --Nationalism and the state /Ciarán O'Kelly --Crime and punishment /Emilio Santoro --Welfare and social exclusion /Bill Jordan --Legitimacy /Alan Cromartie --Democracy /David Owen --The rule of law /Richard Bellamy --Public and private /Judith Squires --Community: individuals acting together /Keith Graham --Multiculturalism /Jonathan Seglow --Gender /Terrell Carver --Green political theory /Andrew Vincent --International justice /David Boucher --Just war /Anthony Coates.

Examines the forms of transnational citizenship developing in Europe. Active citizenship enables citizens to organize socially and politically as well. Achieving mobilization at a transnational level may involve new democratic techniques and skills. The volume explores how far European citizens have acquired the requisite methods and qualities

This edition of Beccaria's On Crimes and Punishments and other writings presents an interpretation of his thought. Drawing on Italian scholarship, Richard Bellamy shows how Beccaria wove together the various political languages of the Enlightenment into a novel synthesis, and argues that his political philosophy, often regarded as no more than a precursor of Bentham's, combines republican, contractarian, romantic and liberal as well as utilitarian themes. The result is a complex theory of punishment that derives from a sophisticated analysis of the role of the state and the nature of human motivation in commercial society. The translation used in this edition is based on the fifth Italian edition, and provides English-speaking readers with Beccaria's own order of his text for the first time. A number of pieces from his writings on political economy and the history of civilisation which were not previously available in English are also included