Framers Of Constitution Research Articles

COVID-19 Emergency Governance in Croatia: The Case of Perpetual Exception and Securitized Disenfranchisement

This article critically examines the governance of the COVID-19 pandemic in Croatia, focusing on the interrogation of (r-e)merging forms of governance amid perpetual crises. Our analysis dissects governmental strategies that formed a state of exception while derailing from the constitutional framing of a state of emergency. This intentional deviation served to re-solidify the intertwining politics of ethno-nationalism and securitization, rooted in a long trajectory of Croatian emergency governance, from the 1990s onwards. Moreover, the article scrutinizes the effects of governance during the pandemic on migrants and other minoritized populations. Through two case studies, we look into inequalities reproduced against racially, ethnically, culturally, and class-wise different social groups. Finally, we conclude with a discussion of crisis governance in a context of uncertain futurities.

The Australian Constitutional Framers and the Languages of Virtue

The historiography of the political concept of virtue has been dominated by examinations of western European and North American sources. This article aims to widen the historical scope for our understanding of the influence of the concept of political virtue by examining how Anglophone conceptions of virtue were employed by the framers of the Australian Constitution during the Federation debates and the impact of those conceptions on the Constitution itself. It examines the strands of thought that provided the backdrop for the colonial adoption of the Victorian‐era British conception of political virtue, subsequently showing how the Australian constitutional framers adopted these languages and concepts in their own writings and speeches. The Australian framers were concerned with the virtue of both the people and their political leaders, applying this concern in their contributions to legal and political discourse in the latter part of the nineteenth century. However, rather than a direct transfer of the more typical languages of republican virtue, the colonial context examined here offers evidence of a shift of emphasis from virtue into the concept of “character”. The framers demonstrated an interest in the question of character as they wrote and deliberated around the constitutional problems of political parties, bicameralism, and responsible government. So, too, they showed an acute concern for the importance of character in their institutional designs for a future federal commonwealth. This article demonstrates that the framers existed within the tradition of thought which held virtue, or character, to be central to the vitality of the polity, and that the framers adapted that language in their deliberations and the institutional design of the Constitution.

Constitutional Frame Work: Guaranteeing Women's Rights

Constitutional Frame Work: Guaranteeing Women's Rights

The end of Fianna Fáil's Ireland: drifting in an ‘unmoored’ political system*

ABSTRACT This essay investigates and describes the political regime that dominated much of Irish political life in the twentieth century. It was marked by the rise, and eventual fall, of Fianna Fáil as the nation's government party. It charts the creation of the Fianna Fáil regime – the building of a government party to manage a state deliberately cast in its own terms – and then identifies and explores the long decade that saw the slow collapse of both. In the aftermath, the fragmentation of national political competition, and the challenges to the constitutional framework, have left a political regime bereft of the party and constitutional frames that long defined its core political moorings.

Why Did the Adoption of Constitutional Deferral Lead to Unintended Consequences of Freedom of Association in Indonesia?

A constitutional deferral is an approach utilised by constitutional drafters so that the drafters do not regulate things in detail in the constitution. This approach is believed to provide more opportunity for the constitutional framers to achieve consensus in drafting a constitution. In the end, this helps a constitution last longer. Constitutional deferral also offers some flexibility for the legislative and the judiciary in interpreting the text of the constitution in the future, which may accommodate the original intentions of the constitutional drafters. This paper argues the opposite. In Indonesia, adopting constitutional deferral causes an uncertain future of freedom of association. This paper aims to address two central questions. First, why did the framers of the first constitution adopt constitutional deferral in drafting provisions on freedom of association? Second, what are the consequences of implementing constitutional deferral toward freedom of association in Indonesia? Through historical and doctrinal approaches, the paper concludes (1) that the sharp ideological differences among constitutional drafters when drafting provisions on freedom of association forced them to employ constitutional deferral. (2) The use of constitutional deferral opens more possibilities for inconsistent interpretation by the executive, the lawmakers, and the judiciary when they establish law or adjudicated cases related to freedom of association. Through constitutional deferral, these three branches of government limit freedom of association instead of protecting such freedom.

The chop suey letterform in historical Los Angeles Chinatowns

ABSTRACT This study investigates the sociosemiotic practices of the chop suey letterform in three historical Chinatowns of Los Angeles. Created to index Chineseness in the 1880s America, the chop suey letterform has been controversial in use yet remains highly visible in today’s global linguistic landscape. This study examines visual data to capture the diachronic changes and synchronic variations in typographic ideologies over temporal space. It analyzes the dynamic meaning-making processes involved to construct ethnocultural identities, sustain power relations, and negotiate social re-positionings. In doing so, it proposes a new constitutive frame analytical approach to reveal the changeability and interconnectedness of discursive frames in political-economic transformations. On one hand, it critiques the chop suey letterform as symbolic capital utilized to create and sustain hegemonic regimes of racialization, domestication, and commodification. On the other hand, it highlights the progressive role the letterform plays through semiotic negotiation in social re-positionings and identity transformations.

Transparency and Accountability in The Indian Judicial System: A Renewed Debate on Collegium System

Accountability is the sine qua non of democracy. Transparency facilitates accountability. In a democratic state, every wing of state needs to be accountable and should have transparency in working to establish trust among people. Judiciary is the most important institution of the democratic state. Constitutional framers turned judiciary into the last bastion of hope. So judiciary should compulsorily have the features of transparency and accountability in its regime. The research paper progresses on the same premise. The judges of the higher courts in India, their salary and assets, their promotion, transfer all have been questioned in the recent times. A judicial construction of basic structure doctrine and collegium system for the higher judiciary finds no place in the actual text of the Constitution. There is serious clout over working of this judicially created phenomenon. For example in recent times, the promotion of few judges of the High Court to the Supreme Court was not confirmed by the Central Government despite reiteration by the Collegium. What makes the issue more serious is that the Collegium made other recommendations leaving those judges to retire. What was the rational applied? What was the opinion of the Collegium? This all is not known to anyone leaving to the serious doubt regarding the transparency of the institutions. The research paper investigates into the same issue, discusses the related case laws, and presents a solution and recommendation. Keywords: Indian Judiciary, Appointment, Transfer, Accountability, Transparency.

Schools for Statesmen: The Divergent Educations of the Constitution's Framers by Andrew H. Browning (review)

Schools for Statesmen: The Divergent Educations of the Constitution's Framers by Andrew H. Browning (review)

Secularism — The Constitutional Norm of State Exclusion from Religion

Whilst the constitutional framers have not explicitly mentioned ‘secularism’ in preamble part of our constitu- tion, they have brilliantly laid it silently with liberty of thought, belief and faith. However, an explicit reference was required later through 42nd amendment. A reading of the preamble at the gaze of fundamental right to religion, makes it clear that, whilst State has no official religion, it must facilitate the individual right to enjoy this fundamental freedom. Since the constitution itself provides the required restrictions to prevent any harm which may arise out of this freedom State has limited power to intervene in such fundamental right. This paper examines the constitutional and judicial stand on State’s intervention to the norm of Secularism, to enhance the constitutional meaning of right to religion.

From Liberation To (Re)Criminalization: Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Bodily Autonomy, and the Expansion of State Rights

For more than a generation, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized the constitutionally protected right to an abortion, and, in turn, the dignity-affirming power of reproductive autonomy and its role in designing one’s own destiny. The Court’s endorsement of the liberatory value of bodily autonomy in Roe v. Wade, as later affirmed in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, rejected attempts to justify restrictive prohibitions on abortion as valid exercises of state police powers. However, the Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization threatens to fundamentally redefine the boundaries between the rights of individuals and those of the state. Concluding that the decisions in Roe and Casey were “egregiously wrong,” Justice Alito’s majority opinion in Dobbs asserts that the Court’s recognition of an individual right to reproductive autonomy damaged our democratic infrastructure because the decision to grant or withhold such a right should be left to the states. This Article explores the Court’s broad abdication of abortion regulation to state legislatures within the context of the expansion of state regulation of bodily autonomy, specifically in the areas of transgender rights, gender expression, and access to gender affirming healthcare. Reproductive rights jurisprudence, including cases like Griswold, Casey, and Roe, undoubtedly provided a recognizable constitutional frame for the evolution of modern transgender rights challenges. Despite the inherent differences in the nature of the lived and legal realities of cisgender women and transgender people, both communities share common demands for dignity and self-determination informed by access to life-defining healthcare services and individual expression. The Court’s dismissal of a fundamental right to abortion in Dobbs sanctioned—if not invited—more restrictive state-level regulation of reproductive care and narrowed respect for individual autonomy in the abortion context. Given the legal and societal commonalities between access to gender-affirming care and reproductive care, it should be no surprise that state legislatures are waging similar lines of attack on the rights of transgender people. This Article proceeds in three parts. Part I explores the evolving judicial treatment of constitutional challenges to state regulation of transgender status and identity. This part positions the right to free gender expression and access to necessary gender-affirming care within the broader conversation regarding the right to bodily autonomy. Part II addresses the state legislative landscape regarding the regulation and attempted erasure of transgender lives immediately before and after the Dobbs decision. Finally, Part III examines the impact of Dobbs on the future viability of autonomy-based claims involving transgender rights under the Fourteenth Amendment. Recognizing the importance of the “second founding,” this section argues that any reliance on the original design of structural federalism to realize dignity or individual autonomy would be misplaced today. Instead, this Article urges the use of a revolutionary lens that is faithful to the intent of the drafters of the Fourteenth Amendment—a lens that is essential to understand the liberatory nature of the early transgender and reproductive rights cases, as well as the human cost of the impending retrenchment.

Truth and the Politics of Deception: An Insider’s View of Washington’s Political-Journalistic Complex

The Watergate and January 6 investigations link to debates that the constitutional framers had over the powers of the chief executive, constraints on the press, and notions of truth as a core issue in managing the democratic republic. The framers left the Congress, the press, and the electorate to police presidential abuse. All these entities must act in concert to constrain any president operating outside the law, in an elaborate choreography aimed at engaging and enraging the public and empowering the judiciary, congressional, and executive branches to act. Critical to this process is a vigorous, vigilant, and diligent press.

Beyond Sustainability: Challenges for Environmental Law in the Era of Uncertainty

It is growingly accepted that the Planet has entered into a new geological era, the Anthropocene. Even if it is controversial to assess the changes in the Earth System brought by this geological transformation, it seems clear that the increasing exchange between society and its biophysical support gives as a result a global ecosocial network of astonishing complexity. Consequently, it has been concluded that the Anthropocene would be a more unstable geological period compared with the Holocene, with escalating plausibility of nonlinear disruptive events. International institutions and governments of states continue to produce environmental regulations, inspired in a constitutional framing of the global environmental crisis. This approach is largely based in the concept of sustainable development, which implies a negation of planetary change and ignores the growing uncertainty of planetary processes, according to the complexity of interactions of human agency and planetary evolution in the Anthropocene. The occurrence of nonlinear events is at odds with a political and legal vision which is essentially static, because of the confidence in some kind of technological fix of global environmental crisis. This paper is focused on the inability of sustainability to capture the implications of the narrative of planetary transformation, and explores the concept of resilience as alternative.

“A Military Alliance Can Not Exist Without an Economic Alliance”: The New Economic Policy in the Light of Constitutional Framing in the USSR

The article is devoted to the problem of the influence of the new economic policy on the constitutional framing in the USSR, which is little studied in Russian historiography. The aim of the article is to study the views of the party and government leadership at the all-union and republic levels on the problem of incorporating the principles of the new economic policy into the Basic Law on the basis of published and archival sources, as well as a wide range of research literature. Since the republics’ constitutions prevailed over the all-Union constitution in terms of including economic foundations and regulating economic life, considerable attention is paid to the history of creation as well as to the forms and features of the development of constitutional drafts of the State Planning Commission and the RSFSR Council of People's Commissars. The original versions, which contained articles on the foundations of the republic's economic system and on the strengthening of the legal basis of the NEP reforms, were not reflected in the final text of the 1925 RSFSR Constitution. The reason for this was the ideological bias of the party leaders and the uncertainty of the prospects of the NEP development. The NEP was recognized as a necessary condition for the restoration and development of the country's economy, but it was by no means an effective tool for building socialism in the historical perspective. In the opinion of the party and government leaders of the country, the NEP entailed too many political risks and dangers; that is why it was not expedient to include its basic provisions in such a long-term system-forming document as the USSR Constitution of 1924.

Intellectual Property and Investment Protection: A Misleading Equation

Without any doubt, important investments are often needed to generate creative outputs. However, the intellectual property (IP) system does not protect them as such; investments are only indirectly protected through the possibility to exploit and monetize the rights granted to a creator as a counterpart to the collective enrichment generated by the access to his new work. If the investment (however substantial) does not lead to a creative output, no protection is granted. This short opinion article tries to demonstrate that the progressive paradigm shift of intellectual property to an investment-protection mechanism is probably at the core of most of the current problems faced by the IP system. The very much debated question whether copyright can be granted to an AI-generated output is a good example. The classical author-centered approach of the IP system is rather straightforward: only humans can be creators. However, if you consider IP as an investment-protection mechanism, then it is not illogical that the investor in the AI could be considered the sole beneficiary of IP protection, even without any human intervention. This paper argues that in order to regain its proper function, its fair balance and its social acceptance, a progressive elimination of the investment protection rationale in intellectual property law is needed. Having IP undergo such an arguable radical therapy is possible and could be done by a proper constitutional framing of IP within the right to science and culture or even freedom of expression. It would give help shaping an ethical framework for IP by both safeguarding the link between the creators, their productions and society, while at the same time enabling the originators of the creative output to receive fair remuneration for work.

Constitutional rights and guarantees: the contrasting approaches of Australia and India

ABSTRACT The Australian and Indian legal systems share much in common given their shared colonial history. However, despite the similarities, both jurisdictions have adopted vastly different approaches in protecting their people under the auspices of constitutional guarantees and the protection of fundamental human rights. This paper will discuss how each jurisdiction protects the fundamental human rights and basic freedoms under their respective constitutions and whether these protections are adequate. The few constitutional guarantees that exist in Australia will be contrasted to the robust fundamental rights enshrined in the Indian constitution. It will be concluded that India sets a stronger example than Australia when it comes to constitutional rights and guarantees for three main reasons; first, the different vision of the constitutional framers of India and Australia; second, India’s Constitution is easier to amend and therefore better placed to evolve and reflect changing societal norms; and finally, the divergent approaches of the Judiciary illustrate the broader interpretation of the scope of constitutional rights by the Indian judiciary. India and Australia can learn much from each other and the ways in which each country protects fundamental rights and basic freedoms are no exception to this.

How to create and develop writing centres

This roundtable addresses how two Norwegian writing centres –in different stages of establishment and settled within different constitutional frames –handle staff policy and aim to facilitate academic writing to their target group and main users, namely the students.We will structure the discussion around four main themes that we juggle in our daily work:
 1.Using strategic plans to promote academic writing development and student throughput
 2.Co-creating learning activities with and for MA students
 3.Keeping up with the Library and Faculty
 4.Strengthening and further developing academic writing in HE
 Attendees at the roundtable will be invited to discuss and participate in a dialogue on the way in which writing centres can improve the students’ writing process; why we find teaching and preaching academic writing to be an important skill, and how we can co-create learning activities in libraries and writing centres with academic staff and students. We will also touch on the issue of legitimacy, and how writing centre activities can be moved from the periphery to the centre of the institution and its pedagogical mission. The audience will leave with ideas and inspirations on how to facilitate and build good writing centres in collaboration between staff, librarians and experienced students.

The Constitution, Jefferson’s War on Pirates, and Trump’s Strikes on Suleimani1: Historical and Modern Applications of the Commander-in-Chief’s War Power

This article is a guided inquiry into past and present uses of war powers. From the Constitutional framers’ intent through Thomas Jefferson’s adaptation to modern presidents’ implementation, students extract meaning from the best available evidence. Evocative primary sources—some of which are contemporaneous to modern readers—and engaging secondary sources ground the inquiry. Discipline-specific scaffolding directs students to assemble a reasoned, informed, civic-minded conclusion, which they communicate to distinct audiences.

Apuesta por un reconocimiento constitucional amplio del derecho al trabajo y a la seguridad social en Ecuador

La integración del derecho al trabajo en el constitucionalismo social de posguerra se caracterizó, entre otras cuestiones, por la incorporación de la división del trabajo, diferenciando entre aquél remunerado, integrado en las normas constitucionales y sobre el que se asentó en gran medida el reconocimiento de un amplio conjunto de derechos sociales; y el no remunerado, ausente del reconocimiento constitucional y normativo y condenado a la invisibilización y a ser acumulado sobre el anterior. Esta diferenciación se fundamentó, evidentemente, en la división sexual del trabajo integrada en la conjunción del patriarcado con el sistema capitalista y recogida en las normas del constitucionalismo social de posguerra. Sobre un marco constitucional permeado por esta división sexual del trabajo, el conjunto de normas que han regulado las prestaciones de trabajo asalariado se basó igualmente en esta división. ¿Es posible acometer un reconocimiento constitucional del trabajo no remunerado de cuidados y anudarle derechos? El presente artículo sostiene que sí y mantiene que no solo es posible sino imprescindible y que el reconocimiento debe conllevar el establecimiento de una serie de derechos a las personas que lo realizan. En este sentido, la Constitución de Ecuador demuestra cómo el nuevo constitucionalismo latinoamericano incorporó una concepción amplia del trabajo, reconociendo tanto aquel valorado en términos económicos, remunerado, como aquél no remunerado en la esfera de los cuidados y de la reproducción de la vida. 
 Sin embargo, y el ejemplo de Ecuador en el ámbito del desarrollo normativo del derecho anterior es clave para apuntalar esta hipótesis, que sea posible no implica en absoluto que sea fácil en el plano de la técnica legislativa y que no genere importantes cuestionamientos desde el punto de vista doctrinal

Una aproximación a la idea de cultura constitucional

La investigación que aquí se presenta es una reflexión en torno a la idea de cultura constitucional. Para ello se parte primero de una serie de conceptos constitucionales basilares, para posteriormente desgranar cuál es el concepto y caracteres de la noción, sus principales desarrollos para posteriormente fijar la vista en España y su peculiar idiosincrasia constitucional, de ayer, hoy y siempre.

Position of Dalit Women in Rural India

India is considered to be the land of villages and this indeed is true as sixty-five percent of its population still resides in the villages as was in the report of World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources in the year 2018. Most of its urban population too originated from the rural as they or their ancestors had migrated to the cities, as in 1960 the rural population of India was a whooping eighty-two percent as per the World Bank data. The Indian population is categorized on multiple grounds and these grounds decide the social, economic, and educational status of an individual, hence there is the presence of discrimination in the Indian society in one form or another. Discrimination in multiple forms has been practiced in India since time immemorial, eradication of which was one of the dreams of the constitution framers. Discrimination was done on the basis of caste and gender mainly and affected the financial holdings, education, and employment opportunity of the individual. The educational qualifications and financial well-being were dependent on the individual’s caste and gender. Discrimination on the basis of caste is one of the most practiced forms of discrimination in India. A caste is an age-old form of categorization in a hierarchy, membership into a caste is ascribed by birth and it can not be changed in any way. The Hindu population of India is divided into a five-fold hierarchy system namely, the Brahmans, the Kshatriyas, the Vaishyas, and the Shudras. The Shudras were considered to be the lowest whereas, the Ati- Shudras were considered to be out-castes i.e. they were outside the caste hierarchy, and hence were considered to be the Untouchables or ‘Dalits’. The caste system not only places individuals one over other in social hierarchy but also dictates the lives of the individuals as it provides for division of labour i.e. it prescribes occupational monopoly to every caste, the lower castes are prescribed to perform menial jobs requiring no expertise; matrimony rules, places of residence i.e. the caste system prescribes that individuals of the same caste should reside together and that such residences were to be located as per the status in the hierarchy and hence is the reason why Dalit localities are located outside the villages and prominent locations being occupied by Brahmins, Kshatriya, and the Vashyas. Educational qualification of the individual hence was dependent on the caste identity of the individual as the lower caste were supposed to be performing menial jobs hence no education was required for them, also they were considered to be untouchables and hence were discriminated in educational institutions as were not allowed to sit with the students from upper castes. Being deprived of education led to the economic exploitation of the lower castes. Hence, this age-old practice led to social, political and economic exploitation of the Shudras and the Ati-Shudras. Quota legislation in India entitles the scheduled castes to places in educational institutions, government employment, and legislatures. While these quotas were hailed as a major breakthrough in affirmative action, whether they have actually improved socio-economic conditions of the disadvantaged groups is one of the most debated topics in contemporary times. Gender is yet another ground for discrimination in Indian society. The Indian society is of patriarchal nature and hence the role and right of women is limited primarily focusing around household and housekeeping. Traditional Indian families rely on women for their housekeeping. Women had no right to get an education or to get jobs outside their homes. Pre-independent Indian society gave no right over immovable property to women. Therefore, women too had been exploited both economically and socially. Though seven decades have passed since India’s independence, incidents of caste and gender-based discrimination are often reported. This matter is to be looked into which deep concerns. Also, a little work had been done of the suffrage of women from the lower castes, as they are discriminated for belonging from lower strata of the society and for being a woman, hence they comprise the lowermost strata of the Indian society.