scholarly journals A caixa de Pandora

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 9-21
Author(s):  
Hugo Matos Fernandez
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Electoral Process ◽  
National Sovereignty ◽  
Complex Relation ◽  
The Social

Hugo Carvalho de Matos Fernandez Licenciado em História pela Faculdade de Letras da Universidade Clássica de Lisboa e Doutorado em Sociologia pela Universidade de Évora, com uma tese sobre “Discursos de Poder na Transição do Antigo Regime para o Liberalismo” (2010). Investigador integrado do Centro de Investigação em Ciência Política da Universidade de Évora.   A caixa de Pandora Discussão do processo eleitoral no primeiro liberalismo português   RESUMO A implantação do liberalismo em Portugal e a consagração do princípio da soberania nacional através dos mecanismos da representação política fizeram da questão eleitoral uma matéria de enorme relevo. Não admira, por isso, a extensão e o detalhe com que as questões ligadas ao processo eleitoral são debatidas no parlamento vintista aquando da elaboração da nossa primeira Constituição (1822). Num momento em que se comemora o bicentenário do nosso primeiro período liberal (1820-1823), a matéria eleitoral reflete não só as incidências de uma conjuntura histórica problemática, como a essência do sistema social e político que se queria estabelecer, nomeadamente na construção da relação complexa entre liberalismo e democracia.   PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Liberalismo, soberania nacional, cidadania, eleições, modalidades e tipos de escrutínio      Pandora’s box Electoral debate in the first portuguese liberalism   ABSTRACT: The implantation of liberalism in Portugal and the consecration of national sovereignty principle through the mechanisms of political representation have made of the electoral question a matter of huge relevance. No wonder the extension and detail in which the issues connected with the electoral process were debated in the vintista parliament when our first Constitution (1822) was being elaborated. In a time in which is celebrated the bicentennial anniversary of our first liberal period (1820-1823), electoral matter reflects not only the occurrences of a problematic history conjuncture, but the essence of the social and political system that where to be established, namely upon the complex relation between liberalism and democracy.   KEYWORDS: Liberalism, national sovereignty, citizenship, elections, polling modalities and types          

Legal Excess in John Donne’s ‘Satyre V’

2018 ◽  
pp. 98-130
Author(s):  
Virginia Lee Strain
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Legal Reform ◽  
Subject Position ◽  
Individual Freedom ◽  
Legal Process ◽  
Legal Professionals ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
The Social ◽  
Court Of Chancery

Chapter 3 examines John Donne’s ‘Satyre V’, which applies the social and ethical reforming energy of the satiric genre to the need for system-wide legal reform in England. The piece is a tribute to his employer, the Lord Keeper Thomas Egerton, who was lauded for his integrity and commitment to reforming the financially exploitative aspects of legal process, particularly in the Court of Chancery. Central to Donne’s satiric critique of the law is his attack on the excesses within the legal-political system that have been generated by the offences of suitors and legal professionals alike. His analysis is complicated, however, through the evocation of corrective strategies that instrumentalise excess, including equitable reasoning and practices (in Chancery and in statute interpretation), legal and political representation, and secretarial service. Donne exploits and revitalizes traditional legal-political analogies to illuminate the tensions in a system that was forestalled by, but also functioned through, excess. The result is an analogical, rather than metaphysical, style that generates new ethical implications for the Donnean speaker’s characteristic subject position. His in-betweenness emerges here not as a function of individual freedom, but as a function of his new proximity and enlarged responsibilities to others as well as to prevailing social, legal and political forms.

Sovereignty

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hermann Heller
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Weimar Republic ◽  
Political System ◽  
Popular Sovereignty ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
National Sovereignty ◽  
Nation States ◽  
The People ◽  
Pluralistic World

This 1927 work addresses the paradox of sovereignty, that is, how the sovereign can be both the highest authority and subject to law. Unlike Kelsen and Schmitt who seek to dissolve the paradox, this text sees the tensions that the paradox highlights as an essential part of a society ruled by law. Sovereignty, in the sense of national sovereignty, is often perceived in liberal democracies today as being under threat, or at least “in transition,” as power devolves from nation states to international bodies. This threat to national sovereignty is at the same time considered a threat to a different idea of sovereignty, popular sovereignty—the sovereignty of “the people”—as important decisions seem increasingly to be made by institutions outside of a country’s political system or by elite-dominated institutions within. This text was written in 1927 amidst the very similar tensions of the Weimar Republic. In an exploration of history, constitutional and political theory, and international law, it shows that democrats must defend a legal idea of sovereignty suitable for a pluralistic world.

Islamists between revolution and the state: an epilogue

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 283-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdul Ghani Imad
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Arab World ◽  
The State ◽  
Social Needs ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Face ◽  
Heavy Burden ◽  
New Type ◽  
Political Realities

The problematic addressed in this article is the challenge initiated by the Arab revolutions to reform the Arab political system in such a way as to facilitate the incorporation of ‘democracy’ at the core of its structure. Given the profound repercussions, this issue has become the most serious matter facing the forces of change in the Arab world today; meanwhile, it forms the most prominent challenge and the most difficult test confronting Islamists. The Islamist phenomenon is not an alien implant that descended upon us from another planet beyond the social context or manifestations of history. Thus it cannot but be an expression of political, cultural, and social needs and crises. Over the years this phenomenon has presented, through its discourse, an ideological logic that falls within the context of ‘advocacy’; however, today Islamists find themselves in office, and in a new context that requires them to produce a new type of discourse that pertains to the context of a ‘state’. Political participation ‘tames’ ideology and pushes political actors to rationalize their discourse in the face of daily political realities and the necessity of achievement. The logic of advocacy differs from that of the state: in the case of advocacy, ideology represents an enriching asset, whereas in the case of the state, it constitutes a heavy burden. This is one reason why so much discourse exists within religious jurisprudence related to interest or necessity or balancing outcomes. This article forms an epilogue to the series of articles on religion and the state published in previous issues of this journal. It adopts the methodologies of ‘discourse analysis’ and ‘case studies’ in an attempt to examine the arguments presented by Islamists under pressure from the opposition. It analyses the experiences, and the constraints, that inhibit the production of a ‘model’, and monitors the development of the discourse, its structure, and transformations between advocacy, revolution and the state.

When decentralisation undermines representation: ethnic exclusion and state ownership in DR Congo's new provinces

2021 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-157
Author(s):  
Alma Bezares Calderon ◽  
Pierre Englebert ◽  
Lisa Jené
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Group ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Political System ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
State Ownership ◽  
The State ◽  
Dr Congo ◽  
Ethnic Representation ◽  
Ethnic Exclusion

AbstractAfrican regimes commonly use strategies of balanced ethnic representation to build support. Decentralisation reforms, often promoted in order to improve political representation and state access, can undermine such strategies. In this article we use the example of the DR Congo to show the extent to which the multiplication of decentralised provinces is upending a political system largely based until now upon collective ethnic representation in the state. Not only are Congo's new provinces more ethnically homogeneous than their predecessors, but many of them have also witnessed political takeover and monopolisation by the province's dominant ethnic group. In addition, the increased number of Congolese who now find themselves non-autochthonous to their province of residence heightens their vulnerability and the potential for local conflict. Decentralisation, whose intent was proximity to governance, might well end up excluding more Congolese from the benefits of political representation. The article uses original empirical evidence on provincial ethnic distributions to support its claims.

Ein zunehmend bunter Freistaat: Die Analyse der bayerischen Kommunalwahlen im März 2020 unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der kreisfreien Städte

2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-94
Author(s):  
Jan Pollex ◽  
Sebastian Block ◽  
Martin Gross ◽  
Dominic Nyhuis ◽  
Jan A. Velimsky
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Coalition Building ◽  
Local Elections ◽  
Special Role ◽  
Green Party ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
The Social ◽  
Election Results

Despite their crucial role for democratic decision-making, local elections receive little atten­tion from political science research . To overcome this shortcoming, the article analyses the Bavarian local elections of 2020 . Although the CSU remains the strongest party in the Free State, the Green Party was able to make considerable gains, especially in larger cities . How­ever, the Greens could not gain any grounds in mayoral elections, whereas CSU and SPD competed for the win . In most of the cases, the Social Democrats won the posts in city halls . In addition to detailing election results, this article addresses the ballot lists, the com­position of local councils, and coalition building at the local level . Overall, this contribu­tion provides a comprehensive account of the elections, which are characterized by their unique ballot system and, thus, have a special role in the political system of Germany .

scholarly journals Libya – Road to Dysfunctionality

Politeja ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (56) ◽  
pp. 23-40
Author(s):  
Wiesław Lizak
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
East Africa ◽  
Political System ◽  
Economic Transformation ◽  
Military Coup ◽  
Current Regime ◽  
International Environment ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
The Arab Spring

The developments of the Arab Spring of 2011 extended, among others, to Libya. As a consequence of the armed anti-government uprising supported militarily by the air forces of the Western powers (under the auspices of NATO), the regime of Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi, who has controlled the state since the 1969 military coup, was overthrown. The collapse of the current regime has initiated the path to the social, political and economic transformation of the Libyan state. However, the rivalry of local political forces which is a reflection of tribal, regional and ideological divisions, prevented the emergence of an effective political system. As a result, Libya has evolved into a dysfunctional state and the processes of internal destabilization and lack of state borders control generate threats also for the international environment of the country (West Africa, East Africa, Europe).

scholarly journals Patriarchal Regime of the Spectacle: Racial and Gendered Gaze in Jhumpa Lahiri’s Fiction

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moussa Pourya Asl ◽  
Nurul Farhana Low bt Abdullah
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Difference ◽  
Social Regulation ◽  
Complex Relation ◽  
Self Image ◽  
The Social ◽  
Late Twentieth ◽  
Gendered Gaze ◽  
Affective Consequences ◽  
And Control ◽  
Late Twentieth Century

This article attempts to evince the political, cultural and affective consequences of Jhumpa Lahiri’s diasporic writings and their particular enunciations of the literary gaze. To do so, it details the manner in which the stories’ exercise of visual operations rigidly corresponds with those of the Panopticon. The essay argues that Lahiri’s narrative produces a kind of panoptic machine that underpins the ‘modes of social regulation and control’ that Foucault has explained as disciplinary technologies. By situating Lahiri’s stories, “A Real Durwan” and “Only Goodness,” within a historical-political context, this essay aims at identifying the way in which panopticism defines her fiction as both a record of and a participant in the social, sexual and political ‘paranoia’ behind the propaganda of America’s self-image as the land of freedom. We maintain that Lahiri’s fiction situates itself in complex relation to the postcolonial concerns of the late twentieth century, suggesting that through their fascination with a visual literalization of the panoptic machine, and by privileging the masculine gaze, the stories legitimate the perpetuation of socially prescribed notion of sexual difference.  Keywords: Gaze, Sexual difference, Panopticon, A Real Durwan, Only Goodness

scholarly journals Social Movements in Contemporary Portugal

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 36
Author(s):  
Célia Taborda Silva
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Labor Movement ◽  
Political System ◽  
Historical Period ◽  
Old Regime ◽  
Early Nineteenth Century ◽  
Social Events ◽  
Early Twenty ◽  
The Social ◽  
Global World

This paper focuses in transformation of Portuguese society throughout the analysis of social movements. Social movements in Portugal were changing as the evolution of society. Throughout the ages, according to circumstances of each historical period protest as changing. in the early nineteenth century, the transition from the Old Regime to Liberalism sparked riots. The protests were dominated by the peasants, motivated by the introduction of liberalism and capitalism, which have transformed the traditional way of living. The late nineteenth and early twenty centuries brought the claim of the labor movement and unionism with the consequent organization of social events, such as strikes. The industrialization of the country created a great social inequality between the factory owners and workers, the latter living in precarious conditions which led to revolt. Between 1933 and 1974 the Portuguese dictatorship dominated the political system but even the social repression prevented the existence of strikes and demonstrations due to hunger. After 1974, the country resumes freedom but political and social democratization brought much dispute motivated by the opening of society to the global world.

scholarly journals Positioning and Rebranding as a State Security Tools in Global Space

2021 ◽  
pp. 99-117
Author(s):  
Ihor Ishchenko ◽  
Olena Bashkeieva
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Political System ◽  
State Security ◽  
Political Risks ◽  
Global Space ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Face ◽  
Unstable Environment ◽  
Mental Construct ◽  
Benefits And Costs

The purpose of this article is to explore positioning and rebranding as tools for state security in global space, using the methodology of constructivism in international relations. The author hypothesizes that positioning the country as safe will be attractive only if there is a unifying factor based on the principles of consocial democracy. To achieve this purpose, the authors used several scientific approaches and methods: constructivism as a scientific paradigm; dialectical method; content analysis, and comparison. The article covers the following issues: Positioning and rebranding in modern conditions; Level of branding effectiveness in Ukraine; National identity as the basis for rebranding and state security; Rebranding states in the face of new challenges and threats. The essence of the conclusions is as follows: States will choose a partner for economic cooperation under difficult conditions in terms of political risks, benefits, and costs. This trend is about renewed positioning and rebranding to facilitate decisions on cooperation. The effectiveness of the existing state brand depends not only on creating an attractive external picture of the country’s positioning. Without a genuine alignment of the declared brand with the internal situation of the state, the political system as a whole, the congruent of the mental construct of the main political structures and the social environment, the brand will not be attractive to investors and the country will remain in an unstable environment.

Circular Arguments and Self-Fulfilling Definitions: “Statelessness” and the Dagaaba

1983 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 349-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kojo Yelpaala
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Political System ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Jigsaw Puzzle ◽  
Cultural Organization ◽  
Intellectual Inquiry ◽  
Self Help ◽  
The Social ◽  
Ancient Law

Since the publication of Maine's Ancient Law in 1861 social anthropological studies have been prolific. The basic intellectual and investigative interest of these social anthropologists was and continues to be the social, political, and cultural organization of preliterate societies in their benign state of primitivity. Indeed, it might be said that the anthropologist created the savage, the barbarian, and the primitive and their state as an object of intellectual inquiry through fieldwork. Most of these studies conducted within the framework of what Owusu calls “structual-functional empiricism” were not exactly law-centered. Whatever glimpses of the legal system one could obtain was by accident. Law was merely part of a functioning, coherent, and consistent totality; part of the jigsaw puzzle of the primitive reality.Subsequent legal anthropological works clearly fell into two categories: those that thought that primitive societies did not have law and others that thought that they did. Those of the first group have viewed small-scale societies from the monocles of western jurisprudence, expecting to find a system of rules emanating from an authoritative source in a hierarchically-organized political system with government, courts, and a law-enforcement mechanism backed by coercive physical sanctions. Viewed from this perspective they not surprisingly found what they considered to be a pattern of “statelessness,” lawlessness, anarchy, and notions of justice and remedy based upon the principle of self-help or the law of the claw and the fang. Critics of colonialism and anthropology suggest that this characterization of the expectations of the colonial anthropologist might be a serious misrepresentation of their true expectations. The colonialist needed the anthropologist to provide the methods by which colonialism could be most effective. The anthropologist on the other hand created the savage and his state of statelessness, lawlessness, and self-help to provide a rational basis for colonialist subjugation and exploitation of the savage.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document