A Challenge to the Liberal Peace? European Union Peacebuilding faces China in Nepal

How does China’s rising presence in Nepal affect the European Union’s own peacebuilding efforts in the country? As a global peace and security actor, the EU has followed the liberal peacebuilding model that promotes peace by strengthening democratic institutions. China’s rise as a “pragmatic” peacebuilder is often called non-conducive to this approach, but how this dynamic plays out has rarely been studied with detailed case evidence. We narrow this gap using the case of Nepal. Drawing on interviews conducted between 2015 and 2020, we find that China’s rise has decreased the EU’s leverage in promoting peace in the areas of civil society, human rights, and constitution-building. But some setbacks in the peace process were unrelated to China. Instead, they were also linked to the EU’s own reform neglects and policy differences, and to local perceptions about peacebuilders, showing how external and internal challenges jointly affect the EU’s role as peacebuilder.

Annual Review of Constitution-Building: 2020

International IDEA’s Annual Review of Constitution-Building Processes: 2020 provides a retrospective account of constitutional reform processes around the world and from a comparative perspective, and their implications for national and international politics. This eighth edition covers events in 2020 and includes chapters on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and emergency legal frameworks on constitutionalism and constitution-building worldwide; the impact of the pandemic on attempted executive aggrandizement in Central African Republic, Hungary and Sri Lanka; the impact of the pandemic on peace- and constitution-building processes in Libya, Syria and Yemen; gender equality in constitution-building and peace processes, with a particular focus on Chile and Zimbabwe; constitutional amendments to enhance the recognition of customary law in Samoa and Tonga; and the establishment, functioning and outputs of the French Citizens’ Convention for Climate. Writing at the mid-way point between the instant reactions of the blogosphere and academic analyses that follow several years later, the authors provide accounts of ongoing political transitions, the major constitutional issues they give rise to, and the implications of these processes for democracy, the rule of law and peace.

Let's Talk about Constitutions

Let’s talk about constitutions! is designed to present difficult constitutional concepts to non-specialist and young audiences in an entertaining and informative way. It has been developed to promote young people’s understanding of constitutional issues and thereby empower and inspire youth to play a full and meaningful part in their own constitution-building process. With dynamic images, relatable characters and simple language, Let’s talk about constitutions! illustrates key concepts to answer the questions: what is a constitution and why is it important? The cartoon is an educational tool that can be enjoyed by youth and adults alike, whether integrated into youth centre curricula or non-governmental organizations civic education campaigns. The booklet is designed primarily for Myanmar and the characters and scripts are tailored to this context. The information shared in the cartoon, however, is relevant for people interested in learning and teaching about constitutions all around the world.

Practical Considerations for Public Participation in Constitution-Building: What, When, How and Why?

Public participation has become a core element of modern constitution-building. Robust participation is credited with a range of benefits—from improving individual behaviours and attitudes to democracy to shaping elite bargaining dynamics, improving constitutional content, and strengthening outcomes for democracy and peace. Yet it is not well understood whether and how public participation can achieve these ends. Much of what we think we know about participatory constitution-building remains theoretical. No two processes are alike, and there is no agreed definition of what constitutes a ‘participatory process’. Yet national decision-makers must contend with the key question: What does a robust participation process look like for a particular country, at a particular time, in a particular context? What considerations and principles can be derived from comparative experience to guide decisions? This Policy Paper unpacks the forms and functions of public participation across different stages of the constitution-building process and considers the ways in which public engagement can influence the dynamics of the process, including political negotiations.

The Policy of Cooperative and Small and Medium Enterprises Office in Improving Cooperative Achievement in Lampung Province

Outstanding Cooperatives are cooperatives that have achievements in obtaining their performance in terms of organizational aspects, management, management aspects, productivity aspects, and benefit and impact aspects of cooperatives that are stipulated by the Decree of the State Minister for Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises. The State Ministry for Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises (Kementerian Koperasi dan Usaha Kecil Menengah) has launched a cooperative achievement assessment program to develop and make existing cooperatives a success. The prediction of cooperative achievements is expected to motivate existing cooperatives to function as economic institutions capable of improving the welfare of members in particular and society in general and building a national economic order that creates a developed, just. A prosperous society based on Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution. Building a national economic order creates a developed, just, and prosperous society based on Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution.

Kako predavati ustavno pravo u dvadeset prvom veku

Constitutionalist discourse has undergone a fundamental transformation at the beginning of the 21st century. New, major constitutional topics have been introduced, inspired by constitutional pluralism and constitutionalism beyond the nation-state. The systemic challenges to modern liberal constitutionalism have prompted a new understanding not only of the constitution, but also of constitutional law as a university subject. The crisis of key parameters of constitutional democracy commands a thorough re-examination of both the cognitive and performative dimensions of teaching constitutional law. For that reason, this paper seeks answers to the question what and how to teach in the epoch of postmodern constitutionalism. The paper advocates the viewpoint that the professor should not only describe phenomena, but also explain the essence of the problem: for example, the republican argument of classical constitutionalism’s irrelevance, or the difference between normality and pathology of constitutional systems in the context of democratic transition, or indeed the trans-nationalization of the constitution and the postmodern paradigm of constitution-building without constituent power. The need for interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach, including co-teaching is demonstrated through the topics of monistic and pluralistic federalism, and constitutional guaranties of individual and/or collective rights. The paper concludes that teaching of constitutional law should be guided by global doubt, as the hermeneutics of truth and ethico-political consideration.

Official Language Designation: Constitution-Building Primer 20

Modern constitutions typically contain a variety of provisions on language. They may designate one or more official languages, each with a different kind of legal status. Constitutions may also create language rights, usually held by minority-language speakers, granting groups and individuals the right to communicate with, and receive services from, the government in their native tongue. In systems of multi-level governance, constitutions may vest the authority to designate official language(s) for each order of government. This Primer addresses the role of language in constitutional design, and the key considerations, implications and potential challenges that arise in multilingual states. It discusses the range of claims around language as a constitutional issue, and the potential consequences of successfully addressing these claims—or failing to do so.

The Emulation of Peace Mediation Practices: Beware of the Jurisgenerative Train

This chapter discusses the deontology of peacemakers and mediators. It outlines the notion of epistemic communities and the reproduction of value systems, asking whether any form of emulation influences the evolution of international law in relation to transitional governance (‘TG’). The re-occurrence of TG can be attributed phenomena such as the ‘migration of constitutional ideas’, ‘constitutional borrowing’, ‘transnational information networks’, acculturation in contact groups, and the use of templates for peace building. The community of practitioners engaged in post-war countries and constitution building is relatively small. As a result, the epistemic community dealing with these issues creates a habitat favourable to the reproduction of professional practices by emulation. The question then becomes whether such reproduction is jurisgenerative, namely whether it expresses emerging law through custom creation or otherwise.

On the Perception of Alexander I among the Decembrists: The Emperor in Newly Found Memoirs and Letters of S. P. Trubetskoy

The article analyzes the information shedding light on the attitude of representatives of the young generation of liberal-minded nobles to the personality of Alexander I, his internal and foreign policies, rumors and reports about his intentions and views. These data are drawn from sources of personal origin recently discovered and published with comments for general public access – previously unknown memoirs and letters of the Decembrist S. P. Trubetskoy, addressed to his comrade, later Senator I. N. Tolstoy. The noble liberal opposition that arose after the end of the Napoleonic wars, as new sources confirm, had a contradictory attitude towards Alexander I. On the one hand, the “liberalists” defended the need for major changes, including the abolition of serfdom and the constitution building, on the other hand, they were dissatisfied with the fact that, in their opinion, interests of nobility (first and foremost economic ones) were ignored by the authorities when designing reforms. Authentic materials of the epoch, such as the newly found letters of S. P. Trubetskoy, allow us to come to the conclusion about the ambivalent attitude of the Decembrists to the reform projects of Alexander I and the great expectations placed on the Tsar by the “liberalists”. However, at the same time the sources demostrate the growing skepticism about internal politics, fear of ill-conceived and inconsistent with the needs of the nobility transformations, such as the forced abolition of serfdom without taking into account the economic interests of nobility.

Annual Review of Constitution-Building: 2019

International IDEA’s Annual Review of Constitution-Building provides a retrospective account of constitutional transitions around the world, the issues that drive them, and their implications for national and international politics. This seventh edition covers events in 2019. Because this year marks the end of a decade, the first chapter summarizes a series of discussions International IDEA held with international experts and scholars throughout the year on the evolution of constitution-building over the past 10 years. The edition also includes chapters on challenges with sustaining constitutional pacts in Guinea and Zimbabwe; public participation in constitutional reform processes in The Gambia and Mongolia; constitutional change and subnational governance arrangements in Tobago and the Autonomous Region of Bangsamoro; the complexities of federal systems and negotiations on federal state structures in Myanmar and South Sudan; and the drawing (and redrawing) of the federal map in South Sudan and India. Writing at the mid-way point between the instant reactions of the blogosphere and academic analyses that follow several years later, the authors provide accounts of ongoing political transitions, the major constitutional issues they give rise to, and the implications of these processes for democracy, the rule of law and peace.