Constitutive Form Research Articles

Constitution, Ethos and Change of Life in Common: Some Introductive Reflections on the Example of Icelandic Constitutional Project

AbstractThe Icelandic constitutional movement was created to address and develop a new constitutional form based upon transparency, responsibility and participation. Taking into consideration the events, which took place in 2008 this expectation appeared more than legitimate. Furthermore, the quality of the debate, which took place within the civil society and in the cooperation between civil society and Constitutional Council, are very meaningful elements supporting a genuine possibility of change. The aim of implementing a participation-based constitution may lead to the diversification of the Icelandic project with respect to the typology of the existing constitution. This may produce as a result the development of new checks and balances. For this reason the development of public local services may be an opportunity to develop a social balance with respect of the constitution in force, as well as a living constitution starting from below. In this way the values purported by civil society may lead to higher levels of political freedom and finally to the approval of a new constitution. To keep the Icelandic process communicatively open in a transnational perspective may thus permit other persons to contribute to the development of Icelandic democracy. It may furthermore offer the Icelandic example as a useful tool that could be used by many world societies aiming to implement transparency, responsibility and participation in their public life. Indeed, even though the Constitutional Bill of 2011 will not finally be validly approved as the Icelandic constitution, the problems that it posed, and the possibilities that we see are stemming from them, have in our opinion a general importance for constitutional reflections.

What is reification in Georg Lukács’s early Marxist work?

After the initial formulation of the concept of reification in Georg Lukács’s History and Class Consciousness (HCC, 1923), a series of confusing uses of it within critical theory have contributed to blurring its contours. In his pre-Marxist work, while analyzing the social rationalization process, Lukács located the modern form of mediation between subject and object and connected it with certain effects on the level of human consciousness and behavior. This very scheme is repeated and refined in HCC. In the Reification essay, Lukács uses the neo-Kantian concept of the “form of objectivity” to grasp the central constitutive form of all kinds of objects in bourgeois society. He interprets Marx’s commodity form as the “archetype” of all capitalist objectivity, which consists in converting qualitative contents into quantitative categories. Thus, the formal/calculative rationality of exchange penetrates all kinds of objectification in modern society. In Lukács’s view, only in its modern, universalized form does rational objectification bring about the phenomenon of reification, i.e. the de-historicization and political neutralization of the social relations that constitute the social system and the dominant forms of consciousness. This systemic, cultural, and political understanding of reification can prove to be fruitful in the context of contemporary discussions on democratic transformative praxis.

From Earl Grey to Boris Johnson: Brexit and the Anglo-American Constitutional Model

Trump and Brexit are at the forefront of political discussions around the world. Many treat them as symptoms of the same phenomenon: the rise of populism, nationalism, and xenophobia towards immigrants and refugees. Both seem to repeatedly challenge constitutional limits on a variety of fronts. Brexit was approved in a referendum by a slim majority, with wavering public support and in spite of a reluctant Parliament. Yet, all British political players feel bound by its results and have taken steps to withdraw from the EU, absorbing the costs of trillions of dollars to their economy. Exclusionary policies may not be enough to explain the extraordinary politics involved. This Article argues that the forces affecting Brexit are rooted in nineteenth century Britain. It deconstructs the familiar narrative that casts the US as the archetype of a constitutional model, with a formal supreme Constitution, judicial review, and popular sovereignty. In that narrative, the UK is cast as the antithesis, because Parliament reigns supreme, it has no formal Constitution, and it lacks a doctrine of judicial review. This Article reveals that, even as this narrative was becoming orthodoxy during the nineteenth century, the UK was already operating under a model similar to the US, demonstrating a continued commitment to popular, rather than parliamentary, sovereignty. The fact that Parliament refers major decisions to the People and carries out those decisions, as exemplified in the British determination to go ahead with Brexit, signals that the People is the sovereign, not Parliament. The challenges encountering popular sovereignty have remained the same over the past two centuries though gaining new dimensions: enfranchisement, protectionism, territorial divisions, and allocation of legislative power. This Article demonstrates how Britain has been operating under a common Anglo-American constitutional model for the past 200 years and highlights its implications for comparative constitutional law. The common Anglo-American model sheds new light on the meaning of the government’s mandate at elections, the rise of party power, and the conditions that would legitimize packing the courts.

Insights into the passive mechanical behavior of left ventricular myocardium using a robust constitutive model based on full 3D kinematics

Myocardium possesses a hierarchical structure that results in complex three-dimensional (3D) mechanical behavior, forming a critical component of ventricular function in health and disease. A wide range of constitutive model forms have been proposed for myocardium since the first planar biaxial studies were performed by Demer and Yin (J. Physiol. 339 (1), 1983). While there have been extensive studies since, none have been based on full 3D kinematic data, nor have they utilized optimal experimental design to estimate constitutive parameters, which may limit their predictive capability. Herein we have applied our novel 3D numerical-experimental methodology (Avazmohammadi et al., Biomechanics Model. Mechanobiol. 2018) to explore the applicability of an orthotropic constitutive model for passive ventricular myocardium (Holzapfel and Ogden, Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond.: Math. Phys. Eng. Sci. 367, 2009) by integrating 3D optimal loading paths, spatially varying material structure, and inverse modeling techniques. Our findings indicated that the initial model form was not successful in reproducing all optimal loading paths, due to previously unreported coupling behaviors via shearing of myofibers and extracellular collagen fibers in the myocardium. This observation necessitated extension of the constitutive model by adding two additional terms based on the I8(C) pseudo-invariant in the fiber-normal and sheet-normal directions. The modified model accurately reproduced all optimal loading paths and exhibited improved predictive capabilities. These unique results suggest that more complete constitutive models are required to fully capture the full 3D biomechanical response of left ventricular myocardium. The present approach is thus crucial for improved understanding and performance in cardiac modeling in healthy, diseased, and treatment scenarios.

Rigidez constitucional mínima como una forma débil del constitucionalismo

Algunos autores contrarios a la práctica constitucional actualmente dominante han defendido una rigidez constitucional “mínima” como una forma “débil” del constitucionalismo en la que la voluntad mayoritaria puede identificar el alcance de los derechos fundamentales por encima de las determinaciones judiciales. El objetivo de este trabajo es plantear algunas reflexiones críticas sobre dicha propuesta, adoptando para ello como parámetro normativo (lo que trataré de identificar como) la racionalidad intrínseca de la práctica constitucional contemporánea en las democracias liberales. Dicha argumentación crítica avanza del siguiente modo: en primer lugar, se discute la distinción formal (basada exclusiva o principalmente en el diseño institucional) entre sistemas de control jurisdiccional “fuerte” y “débil”; en segundo lugar, se pone en duda la supuesta relevancia de la reforma constitucional en la concreción histórica de los derechos básicos; y, por último, se rechaza la rigidez constitucional mínima entendida como parte de un modelo constitucional genuinamente alternativo (la “soberanía popular fuerte”) diseñado para superar la práctica constitucional dominante.

ΦΙΛΑΥΤΊΑ ОТ ПЛАТОНА ДО ПАТРИЦИ: ТОЖДЕСТВО VS ИНАКОВОСТЬ

The article provides a heterological analysis of philautia, “self-love”, in the context of the ancient, medieval and Renaissance philosophy of love. The paper identifies the status of self-love in most influential conceptions of love of the mentioned periods, emphasizes the fact that this status is determined by the approach to the ontological problem of identity and otherness. The authors conclude that recognizing self-love as a basic and constitutive form of love (Eros) is typical of monistic and monistic-oriented ontologies (Platonism, Neo-Platonism, Aristotelianism, et al.). The relation of monism and self-love is explicitly represented in the works of Renaissance Neo-Platonic Franciscus Patricius. He claims that “the Other” can be loved only as an image of oneself (alter ego), which presupposes the reduction of his otherness in relation to identity. A different situation is observed in Christianity, where amorous relations between “the Others” constitute the ontology of the God itself. Here love (agape) exclusively means an attitude towards “the Other” as “the Other”, i.e. a unique personality.

Crosstalk between Saccharomycescerevisiae SAPKs Hog1 and Mpk1 is mediated by glycerol accumulation

Two stress-activated MAP kinase (SAPK) pathways in Saccharomyces cerevisiae respond to osmotic imbalances. The High Osmolarity Glycerol (HOG) pathway is activated in response to hyper-osmotic stress, whereas the Cell Wall Integrity (CWI) pathway is activated in response to hypo-osmotic stress. However, there is also evidence of complex interplay and crosstalk between the two pathways. For example, treatment with zymolyase, a mixture of cell wall degrading enzymes, is known to activate the SAPK Hog1 of the HOG pathway and the SAPK Mpk1 of the CWI pathway sequentially, with Mpk1 activation dependent upon Hog1. Additionally, the PTP2- and PTP3-encoded tyrosine-specific protein phosphatases play a key role in down-regulation of Hog1, but may also down-regulate Mpk1. In this study, we show that hyperactivation of Mpk1 in a ptp2 ptp3 null mutant is an indirect consequence of Hog1 hyperactivation, which induces accumulation of intracellular glycerol and an attendant hypo-osmotic stress. Mpk1 hyperactivity in the absence of PTP2 and PTP3 was suppressed by a hog1 null mutation, or by restoration of osmotic balance with a constitutive form of the glycerol channel Fps1. We found similarly that activation of Mpk1 in response to zymolyase treatment is partly a consequence of Hog1-driven glycerol accumulation. Thus, we have identified two conditions in which glycerol serves as a mediator of crosstalk between the HOG and CWI pathways.

A Response to Tyson E. Lewis’s “A Marxist Education of the Encounter”

This response essay contends that Tyson E. Lewis’s concept of the seminar as a revolutionary mechanism within the university is based on misunderstandings of Althusser’s theory of ideology and class struggle. Lewis formulates interpellation as Althusser’s “fundamental educational problematic.” To counter, this response clarifies how Althusser analyzes ISAs (with the operations of education as one of the diverse kinds of ISA). Further, it examines interpellation—the ongoing constitution of subjects—as a formation that is precedent to specific engagements in and across all apparatuses. We cannot readily reject, dissolve, or counter interpellation. Rather, interpellation ensnares individuals such that their potential relief from how they are constituted likely leads to another form of constitution—that is, interpellation. In opposition to Lewis, regarding the liberative gains to individuals through the seminar, this response proposes that, while navigating Althusser’s problematic, we keep in mind that revolution is not external to apparatuses or productive processes.

The Adaptability Paradox: Constitutional Resilience and Principles of Good Government in Twenty-First-Century America

Faith in the resilience of the US Constitution prompts many observers to discount evidence of a deepening crisis of governance in our day. A long history of success in navigating tough times and adapting to new circumstances instills confidence that the fundamentals of the system are sound and the institutions self-correcting. The aim of this article is to push assessments of this sort beyond the usual nod to great crises surmounted in the past and to identify institutional adaptation as a developmental problem worthy of study in its own right. To that end, we call attention to dynamics of adjustment that have played out over the long haul. Our historical-structural approach points to the “bounded resilience” of previous adaptations and to dynamics of reordering conditioned on the operation of other governance outside the Constitution’s formal written arrangements. We look to the successive overthrow of these other incongruous elements and to the serial incorporation of previously excluded groups to posit increasing stress on constitutional forms and greater reliance on principles for support of new institutional arrangements. Following these developments into the present, we find principles losing traction, now seemingly unable to foster new rules in support of agreeable governing arrangements. Our analysis generates a set of propositions about why the difficulties of our day might be different from those of the past in ways that bear directly on resilience and adaptability going forward.

The Telos Reconciliation Dossier (IG XII.4.132): Democracy, Demagogues and Stasis in an Early Hellenistic Polis

AbstractThis article examines the remarkable inscribed monument IG XII.4.132, a dossier of documents dealing with political strife and reconciliation in the small island polis of Telos, as an important new piece of evidence for democracy in the early Hellenistic period. Placing the monument in its historical, geographical and political context, I argue that the background to the strife was most likely the activity of ‘demagogues’ in the courts of democratic Telos. Furthermore, we should view the terms of the reconciliation against the backdrop of issues of community service, publicity and memorialization, all contested political topics in the late Classical and early Hellenistic periods. The dossier shows that the kinds of ‘high politics’ and stasis that affected major poleis could be found also in the small cities of the Greek world, with important local variations. The document sits at a historical crossroads in terms both of judicial practices (including the use of foreign judges) and of constitutional forms (democracy and oligarchy).

Politics and Constitutionalism: Entrenching the Rule of Law in Africa

The influence of a constitution may seem obvious particularly in Africa. Sometimes, there are tensions between the principles supporting governance issues such as an electoral process and the promotion of majority rule; giving a voice for minorities, inclusiveness, and freedom of expression; assembly; the free press and political culture. This study employs a content analysis to examine the concept of politics and constitutionalism in Africa and how the rule of law can be entrenched. The findings provide lessons in the development of constitutionalism relating to governance of the political life in which the constitutional forms are located. In some cases, regional institutions have only paid lip service. Elites amend the constitution to reserve for themselves unfettered discretion on public affairs. It appears that electoral systems in some African countries have fallen short of expectations of a democratic process due to non-compliance of the rule of law, lack of the practice of constitutionalism, weak institutions and bad political culture. Kenya and Zimbabwe serve as examples where election results have been disputed heavily. It is recommended that politics should be instrumental to the implementation of constitutions and not vice versa and that Afro-pessimism or Afro-optimism should translate to Afro-realism.

On Populists and Demagogues

AbstractThe article seeks to understand what is specifically modern about populists, why we have difficulty in agreeing on who and what they are, and—importantly—how we can address the formidable challenge they present to contemporary democratic politics. It does so by detailing the classical conception of the demagogue and by showing how modernity, in its liberal and counter-liberal aspects, sought to solve conclusively the problem of the demagogue. It argues that modern populists face significant obstacles to their ambitions in the form of modern constitutionalism, yet are also armed with new weapons, including new concepts or “ideologies” for manipulation (such as “the people,” nation, race and class) and new rhetorical techniques (such as propaganda that exploits modern technology and mass media).

THE BASIC LAW OF THE STATE: LEGAL AND POLITICAL CONTENT

The scientific publication is devoted to highlighting the peculiarities of the legal nature of the constitution. The authors consider the structure and content of the constitution of the state in the context of its functions. The specificity of the content of the newest constitutions in the history of world constitutionalism is considered. The correlation between the constitution and the state policy is established. Modern approaches to understanding the nature of the constitution are considered. The legal nature of the Constitution of Ukraine is determined. Proven, the main and still unresolved issue is the ambiguity of what is proposed to adopt: a new Constitution, a new version of the current Constitution, amendments and additions to the current Constitution. Although paradoxical, in Presidential speeches, these terms are used repeatedly as synonyms. However, legally they are completely different concepts. This terminological confusion carries a great danger of loss of landmarks and prevents a clear statement of the problem in a purely legal area. We believe that the constitutional process is too politicized today. In our opinion, the acutest political struggle is underway for adopting a form of constitution that is convenient for one of the parties. But in fact – for power – everyone wants a maximum of power. Including through their Constitution enforced in some way. However, the Basic Law should be adopted not from the conjuncture considerations of political expediency but be a complete legal document, taking into account the achievements of the world jurisprudence, with the strict observance of all the prescribed legal procedures. After all, the constitution should be the main document of the state, at least for a decade.

FoxH1 represses miR-430 during early embryonic development of zebrafish via non-canonical regulation

BackgroundFoxH1 is a forkhead transcription factor with conserved key functions in vertebrate mesoderm induction and left-right patterning downstream of the TGF-beta/Nodal signaling pathway. Binding of the forkhead domain (FHD) of FoxH1 to a highly conserved proximal sequence motif was shown to regulate target gene expression.ResultsWe identify the conserved microRNA-430 family (miR-430) as a novel target of FoxH1. miR-430 levels are increased in foxH1 mutants, resulting in a reduced expression of transcripts that are targeted by miR-430 for degradation. To determine the underlying mechanism of miR-430 repression, we performed chromatin immunoprecipitation studies and overexpression experiments with mutant as well as constitutive active and repressive forms of FoxH1. Our studies reveal a molecular interaction of FoxH1 with miR-430 loci independent of the FHD. Furthermore, we show that previously described mutant forms of FoxH1 that disrupt DNA binding or that lack the C-terminal Smad Interaction Domain (SID) dominantly interfere with miR-430 repression, but not with the regulation of previously described FoxH1 targets.ConclusionsWe were able to identify the distinct roles of protein domains of FoxH1 in the regulation process of miR-430. We provide evidence that the indirect repression of miR-430 loci depends on the connection to a distal repressive chromosome environment via a non-canonical mode. The widespread distribution of such non-canonical binding sites of FoxH1, found not only in our study, argues against a function restricted to regulating miR-430 and for a more global role of FoxH1 in chromatin folding.

Thailand’s Public Secret: Military Wealth and the State

ABSTRACT After the military coup of 2014, 143 serving and retired generals of the Royal Armed Thai Forces submitted asset declarations to the National Anti-Corruption Commission on being appointed to the military junta’s National Legislative Assembly. By analysing these declarations, this article demonstrates that a cohort of wealthy generals has emerged, which leads to the article’s central concern: how is it that despite the political reform project of the 1990s, military leaders were able to evade scrutiny and become wealthy? It is argued that behind the lack of scrutiny of the military’s wealth accumulation was a structure of fear that severely undermined the capacity to enforce regulations and which enabled the military to evade the constitutional forms of scrutiny elaborated in the 1997 Constitution. That structure of fear emerged in a context of an elusive political settlement when the apparatuses of the state were occupied by competing regime framers, leading to a re-assertion of military power.

Non-local Thermoelasticity Based on Equilibrium Statistical Thermodynamics

The purpose of this work is the formulation of energetic constitutive relations for thermoelasticity of non-simple materials based on atomistic considerations and equilibrium statistical thermodynamics (EST). In particular, both (unrestricted) canonical, and (restricted) quasi-harmonic, formulations are considered. In the canonical case, (spatial) non-locality results from relaxation of the assumption that atoms subject to continuum deformation change position uniformly and affinely. In the quasi-harmonic case, the analogous assumption on mean atomic position (i.e., Cauchy-Born) is relaxed. Two types of spatial non-locality, i.e., strong and weak, are considered. In the former case, atomic position (or mean position) is a functional of the deformation gradient boldsymbol{F}, while in the latter, this functional is approximated by a function of boldsymbol{F} and its higher-order gradients nabla^{1}!boldsymbol{F},ldots ,nabla^{n}!boldsymbol{F}. On this basis, canonical and quasi-harmonic non-local model relations are obtained for the thermoelastic free energy, entropy, internal energy, and stress. In addition, such relations are formulated for thermoelastic material properties (e.g., stiffness).In the second part of the work, basic relations from the continuum thermodynamics of (non-polar) simple materials are generalized to higher-order deformation gradient (i.e., weakly non-local) continua and applied to energetic thermoelasticity. The corresponding formulation is based in particular on (i) Euclidean frame-indifference of the energy balance and (ii) the dissipation principle. As in the standard case, necessary for (i) is linear momentum balance and the symmetry of the (generalized) Kirchhoff stress (i.e., angular momentum balance). In the context of (ii), the free energy density determines in particular the first Piola-Kirchhoff stress boldsymbol{P}, the higher-order stress measures conjugate to nabla^{1}!boldsymbol{F},ldots ,nabla^{n}!boldsymbol{F}, as well as the generalized Kirchhoff stress. Modeling the phenomenological free energy on the corresponding (weakly non-local) canonical free energy yields EST-based constitutive forms for the entropy, all stress measures, and thermoelastic material properties. Alternatively, one can model the former energy as an approximation to the latter. An example of this for the second-order (n=2) case is discussed both theoretically and computationally in the last part of the work.

캐나다 역량기반 교과 교육과정의 교육내용 구성 방식이 우리나라에 주는 시사점 탐색

캐나다 역량기반 교과 교육과정의 교육내용 구성 방식이 우리나라에 주는 시사점 탐색

As Relações Internacionais e seus epistemicídios

O artigo argumenta que a disciplina das Relações Internacionais é cúmplice do projeto colonial e, nesse sentido, vem participando do processo histórico de epistemicídio. Tanto perspectivas realistas como liberais das Relações Internacionais reificam uma “história única”, embora narrada como universal. A partir dos mitos mobilizados pela disciplina a exemplo do “estado de natureza” e do “contrato social” pretende-se iluminar sua trajetória eurocêntrica, chamando a atenção para as violências e exclusões constitutivas da mesma. O artigo, inspirado em perspectivas decoloniais, conclui enfatizando a importância da abertura da disciplina para outros saberes e cosmologias tradicionalmente silenciados e inferiorizados que podem vir a contribuir para desestabilizar suas fundações racistas.

Potentiality, political protest and constituent power: A response to the special issue

Emergent forms of political protest and constitution often provide limit cases for their contemporary theoretical models, and transnational protest movements from Occupy to Democracy in Europe 2025 are no exception. The recent special issue of the Journal of International Political Theory offers a number of different conceptual paths towards understanding these developments, revising and refreshing categories like civil disobedience, opposition, resistance, as well as constituent and destituent power. However, the plurality of perspectives in the special issue leads to a certain degree of uncertainty in the use of terms. This response to the special issue begins with a reflection on its major conceptual developments, addresses the missed encounter with Giorgio Agamben’s theory of ‘destituent potential’ and develops a framework for contrasting different theoretical approaches to political protest and constitution through their relation to potentiality. This taxonomy of emergent forms of political protest and constitution complements the substantial theoretical developments undertaken in the special issue by making the important conceptual relationships between them more readily visible. As well, by demonstrating the applicability of potentiality to the study of International Relations, this framework contributes to the project of the theoretical investigation of international politics.

The Dualistic Effect of COX-2-Mediated Signaling in Obesity and Insulin Resistance.

Obesity and insulin resistance are two major risk factors for the development of metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes and associated cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Cyclooxygenase (COX), a rate-limiting enzyme responsible for the biosynthesis of prostaglandins (PGs), exists in two isoforms: COX-1, the constitutive form, and COX-2, mainly the inducible form. COX-2 is the key enzyme in eicosanoid metabolism that converts eicosanoids into a number of PGs, including PGD2, PGE2, PGF2α, and prostacyclin (PGI2), all of which exert diverse hormone-like effects via autocrine or paracrine mechanisms. The COX-2 gene and immunoreactive proteins have been documented to be highly expressed and elevated in adipose tissue (AT) under morbid obesity conditions. On the other hand, the environmental stress-induced expression and constitutive over-expression of COX-2 have been reported to play distinctive roles under different pathological and physiological conditions; i.e., over-expression of the COX-2 gene in white AT (WAT) has been shown to induce de novo brown AT (BAT) recruitment in WAT and then facilitate systemic energy expenditure to protect mice against high-fat diet-induced obesity. Hepatic COX-2 expression was found to protect against diet-induced steatosis, obesity, and insulin resistance. However, COX-2 activation in the epidydimal AT is strongly correlated with the development of AT inflammation, insulin resistance, and fatty liver in high-fat-diet-induced obese rats. This review will provide updated information regarding the role of COX-2-derived signals in the regulation of energy metabolism and the pathogenesis of obesity and MS.