Legitimate Exercise Of Power Research Articles

Eine rechtmäßige Diktatur? Estlands Verfassungsentwicklungen in der Zwischenkriegszeit des 20. Jahrhunderts [A legitimate dictatorship? Estonia's constitutional developments in the interwar period of the twentieth century

ABSTRACT The Republic of Estonia was one of those European states that emerged as a young democracy after the First World War and experienced an authoritarian turning point in the 1930s. It is still controversial whether the authoritarian turn of 1934 should be interpreted as a legitimate exercise of power by the head of state with some, rather minor deviations from the principle of legality, or as an illegal and unconstitutional coup d'état. There was no military coup or violent seizure of power. The authoritarian regime was introduced by the democratically appointed head of state Konstantin Päts (1874–1956). From a legal-historical point of view, the coup d'état and the subsequent authoritarian regime in Estonia have received little analysis to date. This article therefore focuses on the legal-historical perspective of the coup d'état and the nature of Estonia’s authoritarian regime. In doing so, it contributes to what has been a somewhat neglected historiography.

The English School and postcolonial state agency: social roles and order management in Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific

AbstractThis paper contributes to recent revisions to the English School (ES) which have sought to redress its Eurocentrism. It argues that, despite providing necessary accounts of non-Western international societies and the agency of non-European polities in the expansion of global international society, there remains a gap in capturing the agency of postcolonial states in contributing to order negotiation and management in contemporary international order. It proposes a social role negotiation framework to address the gap, which it situates within a holistic conceptual framework that supplements an ES understanding of international order between states with a world-system perspective on how states are embedded within global capitalism, and a neo-Gramscian focus on social forces as the key agents contesting and shaping states' foreign policy orientation. It highlights two major types of postcolonial state agency within international order: contesting and limiting great powers' legitimate exercise of power; and establishing responsibilities towards building and managing order vis-a-vis great powers. The paper illustrates the utility of the social roles framework with the example of ASEAN in Southeast Asian and Asia-Pacific order.

‘Whoever Has the Stick Guides the Buffalo’

This article examines the relationship between the concept of neutrality in community mediation and partisan party politics in Nepal. Focusing on one donor-sponsored, US model-based community mediation programme in the Terai, this article contributes to a growing literature on authority formation and the role of party politicians in post-conflict Nepal. It argues that both neutrality and bias in dispute settlement are constitutive of building (Weberian) authority, allowing for the legitimate exercise of power by politicians. Neutrality is not only highly valued in mediation ideology, but is also a crucial legitimizing register in dispute settlement in Nepal. Although resolving disputes neutrally enhances the local legitimacy of (political) mediators, our research finds that there are cases when showing political favouritism also helps maintain power. We find that these contradictory incentives and the need to balance them guide the arena in which politicians choose to resolve disputes and how they choose to resolve them. These strategic decisions made by politicians in order to balance neutrality and bias thus guide outcomes of dispute settlement, and mediation in particular. This raises questions about the proclaimed ability of community mediation to overcome power imbalances and provide justice to disadvantaged communities.

¿Sobre qué bases mínimas podría construirse un acuerdo global cosmopolita?

El artículo explora algunos de los principales rasgos políticos de la época globalizada y defiende la necesidad de entidades políticas representativas que superen el marco del Estado nación. A continuación se pregunta bajo qué presupuestos ético-políticos podría defenderse un modelo político-jurídico global para un mundo axiológicamente diverso y qué concepciones políticas y valores podrían proponerse como referente normativo para una gobernanza global cuya meta habría de ser el ejercicio legítimo del poder. Teniendo en cuenta las dificultades de tal empresa, se presentan posibles estrategias y razones que invitan a considerar que la posibilidad de un acuerdo global no es del todo implausible.

On the Second Edition of Lukes' Third Face

In this article I argue for two propositions. The first is that Lukes has established the possibility of power's third face, but that the most interesting social science questions about it are empirical: How often does it operate and under what conditions? These are topics for empirical research, not armchair reflection. The second proposition I defend is that the most interesting normative questions about power are best thought of as questions of institutional design geared to preventing domination without interfering with the legitimate exercise of power. Examples in support of both propositions are supplied.

Verlinden BV v. Central Bank of Nigeria

548State immunity — Jurisdictional immunity — General principles — United States Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act 1976 — Commercial activity exception to immunity — Whether conferring jurisdiction upon United States courts in action between foreign corporation and foreign State — Connection between action and the United States — Whether Act compatible with United States Constitution — Evolution of law relating to sovereign immunity — Whether grant of immunity a matter of comityStates — Federal States — United States of America — Conduct of foreign relations — Powers of Congress — Whether Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act 1976 a legitimate exercise of power by Congress to vest jurisdiction in federal courts — The law of the United States