Modern Debate Research Articles

A More Equitable Corporate Purpose

The appropriate focus of corporate purpose has long been debated by scholars, investors, and legal counsel alike, with the majority of these arguments focused on the seeming dichotomy between shareholder wealth maximization and stakeholder capitalism. These modern debates are inextricably tied to theoretical understandings of the firm, first articulated in the 1930s, which focused on the relationship between managers of firms, those firms’ shareholders, and other constituents, or stakeholders, of the firm. And while much is debated regarding the appropriate conception of corporate purpose, the initial understandings of the firm that undergird those arguments is widely accepted. Corporate governance literature has, however, largely failed to consider one important factor that would have influenced the development of theories of the firm in the 1930s—the historical context of exclusion in which those theories arose. This Chapter argues that corporate leaders and scholars engaged in debates about the appropriate role and purpose of the corporation today must also consider how women and people of color fit—or more specifically, failed to fit—into the original understandings of the corporation’s purpose. In response to the #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter movements, corporate leaders and scholars have actively entered into a period of study and contemplation about the ways in which corporations might contribute to the creation of a more equitable and just society. That focus is admirable and necessary. But it is equally important to consider whether and how traditional notions of corporate purpose were influenced by the sexist and racist policies that permeated American society when foundational pieces of corporate scholarship were debated and developed. Once historical realities are considered, “A More Equitable Corporate Purpose” may, perhaps, reveal itself.

Solus Verus Deus: Francis Cheynell and the Johannine Trinity

ABSTRACT Scholars have identified the crucial importance of Johannine theology in the early modern anti-Trinitarian and Trinitarian debates. This article investigates Francis Cheynell’s defence of a Trinitarian reading of John 17:3, a highly controversial text in these debates. Modern scholarship has left implicit the significance of John 17:3. Consequently, this article argues that, from Cheynell’s perspective, John 17:3 was the key text upon which Socinian rationalism found its compelling exegetical foothold and necessitated a Trinitarian response. This article demonstrates that Cheynell, in his exegesis of John 17:3, pursued a Nicene-Augustinian metaphysical line of literal exegesis to counter the unipersonal humanist thrust of Socinian exegesis. Indeed, this article advances the thesis that Johannine theology was at the forefront of the early modern polemics surrounding the Trinity. It also highlights the importance of the influence of Nicene-Augustinian thought upon the early modern Trinitarian reception of John’s Gospel.

Philosophical Dissertations on Mind and Body by Anton Wilhelm Amo

Reviewed by: Philosophical Dissertations on Mind and Body by Anton Wilhelm Amo Yual Chiek Anton Wilhelm Amo. Philosophical Dissertations on Mind and Body. Edited and translated by Stephen Menn and Justin E. H. Smith. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020. Pp. 252. Cloth, $74.00. Replete with insightful historical commentary on the life of Ghanaian-German Enlightenment philosopher Anton Wilhelm Amo, this fascinating volume by Stephen Menn and Justin Smith (henceforth "MS") offers a detailed study of two of Amo's most important works. In addition, the book offers a careful study of both the intellectual and political context in which Amo wrote and the reception of his work in the centuries following. The book is divided into four parts. The first part houses a substantial introduction, while the second part is devoted to notes on the texts and translations of Amo's dissertations. The third part contains the Latin text alongside MS's English translations of Amo's Inaugural Dissertation on the Impassivity of the Human Mind (Impassivity). The fourth part houses Amo's Philosophical Disputation Containing a Distinct Idea of Those Things That Pertain Either to the Mind or to Our Living and Organic Body (Distinct Idea), with, likewise, the Latin text and MS's translation. Section 1 of the introduction begins with a brief general overview of Amo's life and philosophical achievements. MS then take the reader through a discussion of the complex and rapidly changing social status of Africans in eighteenth-century Germany. In this section, MS discuss not only Amo but other notable Africans in eighteenth-century Germany and Europe. Here we find an examination of Amo's life, including a careful analysis of documents [End Page 686] bearing on the circumstances surrounding Amo's arrival in Germany, his identification in Germany, and the financial difficulties that befell him as a result of the death of Duke Ludwig Rudolph of Braunschweig-Lüneburg, the last of his patrons. In this section too is a discussion of his entrance into the University of Halle, his studies at the University of Wittenberg, and his tenure at the University of Jena. We are also introduced to Amo's two principal works: De Jure Maurorum in Europa (On the Right of Moors in Europe), and Tractatus de Arte Sobrie et Accurate Philosophandi (Treatise on the Art of Philosophizing Soberly and Accurately). Section 2 gives an in-depth discussion of the history of the reception of Amo's life and work. MS trace the reception of Amo, from the mention of him by eighteenth-century white antiracists like Johann Friedrich Blumenbach to twentieth-century African and African-American writers like Kwame Nkrumah and William E. B. Du Bois, and the use of his work in twentieth-century debates about the delineation of African philosophy (49). MS argue convincingly that attempts to cast Amo as an African philosopher are mistaken: Amo was an early modern German philosopher. As such, Amo's philosophical views should be assessed against the intellectual context in which they were written (44–51). Section 3 treats of the political and intellectual climates at Halle and Wittenberg, the two institutions Amo was most closely affiliated with, by giving a fascinating study of the complex interplay between the more conservative Pietists and the liberal advocates of Enlightenment sensibilities in eighteenth-century Protestant Germany. MS trace the development of the two camps, starting from the founding of Wittenberg and Halle universities, to well-known controversies between Leibniz and Wolff and Pietistic thinkers like Georg Ernst Stahl. Considered "one of the most prominent Wolffians," Amo was affiliated with Leibnizian-Wolffianism (30). MS emphasize, however, that the two schools were not clearly delineated sects, and that antagonism was often confined to individual thinkers. Section 4 adumbrates the conventions and purposes of eighteenth-century dissertations, and their differences with modern-day dissertations. Sections 5 and 6 are devoted to a discussion of ancient and modern debates on action, passion, and sensation, as well as an explanation of the arguments of Impassivity and Distinct Idea. It is in this section that MS offer their interpretation of Amo's dissertations. MS situate both of Amo's dissertations in the modern debates about action/passion and...

Paradoxes of Reproduction, Grammars of Power

The rise of biopolitical governmentality and its interest in the optimal administration of the life of populations gave a new political relevance to women’s reproductive capacity and conduct—while not automatically converting their pre-political status. While reproduction takes on a different status and meaning for different forms of power, these can also coincide rather than replace each other. In consequence, the oscillations between rights and health within modern debates over reproductive justice concern more than a politically strategic choice between alternative languages. Instead, the friction between the formulations of reproductive justice and biopolitical interest are better understood as articulated together in an interlocking grammar of different forms of power whose relationalities have given rise to new means for understanding the paradoxes of rights, necroresistance, and corporeal contradictions.

Enlightenment and Education, Then and Now

Ideas about education and its power to transform people’s intellectual, social, political, and personal lives were central to Enlightenment thought. They were also central to the Enlightenment belief that new ways of thinking engendered new ways of living (and vice versa). Taken together, these points placed education at the heart of early modern debates over the constitution of society, the organization and administration of the polity, the nature and purpose of civil society, and the relations that govern everyday life. To understand this view of education and the Enlightenment debates to which it gave rise, this essay highlights the role of skepticism and uncertainty in Enlightenment thought, the philosophes’ interest in education as an instrument of moral and social improvement, and their commitment to the idea that both individual and collective progress stemmed from critical forms of social intercourse. As a result, we see that the Enlightenment’s educational legacy is not a particular platform or pedagogy, but an ongoing experiment in how the critical and collective pursuit of useful knowledge might reform or remake human society.

"The Eyes and Ears of the Agricultural Markets": A History of Information in Interwar Agricultural Economics

This article offers a historical analysis of the contributions of U.S. interwar agricultural economics to the economics of information. Concerned with improving the circulation of information on agricultural markets, agricultural economists analyzed the relationship between agents’ information and the behavior of prices on agricultural commodity exchanges, thus anticipating modern debates on informational efficiency. We show that these debates were part of a more general context of agricultural market reform led by the U.S. administration to improve the production and diffusion of economic information. We argue that such reforms were a prerequisite for theoretical discussions on information, and established institutional tools that are still active today, such as the USDA market news service.

POTENTIAL OF THE KANTIAN NOTION OF SOCIAL JUSTICE

Purpose. This paper aims to show how the views of Kant persist in the modern debate on social justice and to outline the practical and political potential contained in his understanding of a just state system and international justice. To that end, I will present what Kant meant by a just state system and just relationships between states. Then, I will reference his understanding of social justice against three fundamental models of social justice thus far established in the philosophical tradition: the legal, distributive, and contractual justice. Finally, I will explain how the Kantian understanding of social justice is reflected in select modern interpretations of a just state system and justice in international relationships, and how we can grasp the current practice and the expected development of sociopolitical life in the framework of social justice as understood by Kant. Originality. The article presents the theoretical-conceptual and practical-political relevance of the concept of social justice, developed by I. Kant. It was shown that Kant considered justice to be the basis of all correct social relations, both at the level of individual states and in the sphere of international relations. According to Kant, the only just state system is a republic. In his opinion, justice in the field of international relations requires that they be based on the principles of federal unification of individual states. The concept of social justice developed by Kant can be identified as a form of classically understood contractual justice. In addition, Kan’s notion of justice was correlated with the works of modern authors: John Rawls, Robert Nozick and Otfried Höffe, showing identical and different elements in them. Conclusions. The reflections above suffice to assert that the Kantian understanding of social justice primarily involves the following observations: 1. under a relevant contract, interested parties institute a public authority, i.e. a republican state (at the level of citizen-to-citizen relations) or a federal institution endowed with judicial or executive powers (in the international arena); 2. the institution of public authority (a republican state, a federal court or government) remains fair (impartial) in dealings with the governed; 3. the public authority has the right to intervene only in the circumstances of threat to the external freedom, equality and independence of the governed individuals; 4. the public authority is responsible only for guaranteeing just relations between individuals and the enforcement of their contracts. Furthermore, Kantian understanding of justice falls within the scope of the classical notion of contractual justice and remains present in the modern debates on justice, as exemplified by the thought of Rawls, Nozick and Höffe. Finally, the Kantian understanding of social justice remains topical and worthy of consideration during the design and the development of current and future solutions for a just public order, both at the national and international level.

Institutions and Educational and Cultural Tools of Migration Policy in Modern Russia

Problem of migration and mechanisms of foreign citizens adaptation and integration associated with it, are in focus of public and scientific thought. Need for further institutionalization and innovative modernization of Russian migration policy is widely discussed in the framework of modern debates. Over the past few years, adaptation and integration of foreign citizens in Russian Federation has drawn public attention, as a result of rapid increase in number of foreign citizens and stateless persons permanently or temporarily residing in Russian Federation. The Concept of State Migration Policy of the Russian Federation for the Period until 2025, focuses on national security and reduction of the sociocultural, economic and political risks associated with influx of migrants. To this end, there is a quest for migration policy instruments adequate to the situation in labor market. Article analyzes already tested educational and cultural tools, defines role of resource support for participation of ethnic communities, national and cultural autonomy, educational and religious organizations, cultural and sports institutions, working on social and cultural adaptation and integration of foreign citizens.

Erasmian Didacticism and Political Advice in Luis Zapata’s Carlo famoso

The presence of Erasmian discourse in Luis Zapata’s Carlo famoso (1566) has been both neglected and misinterpreted in literary scholarship. Previously understood as an expression of insubordination against the reign of Philip II, the poet’s intertextual use of Erasmus is reconsidered in this article as political advice imbued with a didactic purpose. Through an exploration of Zapata’s contributions to early modern debates on the formation of the Christian prince, imperial expansion and war, this study seeks to determine the intellectual and ideological profile of the poet and establish a more accurate link between his epic and the wider European political framework of the sixteenth century. In doing so, it aims to broaden the lens through which Carlo famoso has traditionally been read and shed new light on the politico-ethics of its author.

Taming Systemic Corruption: The American Experience and its Implications for Contemporary Debates

Endemic corruption in developing countries often seems intractable. Yet most countries that currently have relatively high public integrity were, at an earlier point in their history, afflicted with similarly pervasive corruption. Studying the history of these countries may therefore make a valuable contribution to modern debates about anti-corruption reform. This paper considers the experience of the United States, focusing principally on the period between 1865 and 1941. We find that the U.S. experience calls into question a number of commonly-held views about the struggle against corruption in modern developing countries. First, although some argue that entrenched cultures of corruption are virtually impossible to dislodge, the U.S. experience demonstrates that it is possible to make a transition from a systemically corrupt political system to a system in which public corruption is aberrational. Second, although some have argued that tackling systemic corruption requires a “big bang” approach, the U.S. transition away from endemic corruption would be better characterized as incremental, uneven, and slow. Third, although some have argued that fighting corruption requires shrinking the state, in the U.S. reductions in systemic corruption coincided with a substantial expansion of government size and power. Fourth, some commentators have argued that “direct” anti-corruption measures that emphasize monitoring and punishment do not do much good in societies where corruption is pervasive. On this point, the lessons from U.S. history are more nuanced. Institutional reforms played a key role in the U.S. fight against corruption, but investigations and prosecutions of corrupt actors were also crucial, not only because of deterrence effects, but because these enforcement efforts signaled a broader shift in political norms. The U.S. anti-corruption experience involved a combination of “direct strategies,” such as aggressive law enforcement, and “indirect strategies,” such as civil service reform and other institutional changes.

CURRENT TRENDS OF PUBLIC MANAGEMENT IN THE MODERN WORLD: ECONOMIC AND ORGANIZATIONAL ASPECTS

Abstract. The determination of relevant trends in economic and organizational aspects of public management of society is conditioned by the global character of economic, social, and cultural changes, the spread of new technologies during the IV international revolution, the crises associated with the pandemic of coronavirus, hybrid wars, trade wars, leadership struggle in the global and local scale and other problems of the world and local sort. The article uses the review of publications devoted to the further development of society to actualize the utilization of approaches to the progressive capitalism outlined by J. Stiglitz and the solidary civilization as the purposeful tendencies for the economic and organizational principles of the system of public management. The article ascertains that management of the further development of society requires a modern scientific argumentation and scientific support with the help of the development of the special scientific theory – the theory of public management. The directions of public management in the economic, institutional, social, cultural, and political spheres are proposed considering the stated tendencies in the formation of modern civilization. It is proved that finding an effective consensus between public authorities, entrepreneurs and the general public occupies a special place for economic development and implies that: - all types of public activity must be consistent with the peculiarities of modern civilizational development of the country; - economic interests of society should be an unconditional value in the search and implementation of management decisions that are formed in the constantly updated conditions of the country’s development. In today’s world, social transformation processes in the field of public administration require active theoretical argumentation and appropriate scientific support in order to make and implement socially important decisions on economic, social and cultural issues. Keywords: economic and organizational aspects, sustainable economic development, public management, public sphere, society, digital world, public consensus, progressive capitalism, solidary character of relations. Formulas: 0; fig.: 0; tabl.: 0; bibl.: 26.

Dido Meets Aeneas: Anachronism, Alternative History, Counterfactual Thinking and the Idea of Fiction

AbstractThe anachronistic character of the loving relationship between Dido and Aeneas was widely and commonly discussed among commentators, critics, and writers in the early modern period. From the 16th century onwards, when the word »anachronism« appeared in vernacular languages, its definition was even inseparable from the example borrowed from theAeneid. The purpose of this article is to interrelate early modern debates on anachronism, reflections on the status of fiction and the history of fiction.Starting with the hypothesis that anachronism is a form of counterfactual, the questions posed in this article are: did forms of counterfactuals exist before the 19th century, to what extent did they differ from contemporary alternative histories and, if so, why? The story of Dido and Aeneas in theAeneidcan be considered »counterfactual«, because this version of the narrative about the queen of Carthage was opposed to another, which was considered to be historical and which made Dido a privileged embodiment of female virtue and value.Several important shifts are highlighted in this article. With the exception of St. Augustine (who saw in Vergil’s anachronism confirmation of the inanity of fiction), before the 16th century indifference towards anachronism prevailed: the two versions of Dido’s story were often juxtaposed or combined. If Vergil’s version of Dido’s story was condemned, it was for moral reasons: the exemplary version, considered more historically accurate, was favored throughout the Middle Ages, notably by Petrarch and Boccaccio.From the 16th century onwards, however, increased acquaintance with Aristotle’s Poetics promoted greater demand for rationality and plausibility in fables. This coincided with the appearance of the word »chronology« and its development, which led to a new understanding of historical time. Anachronism then appeared to be a fault against verisimilitude, and as such was strongly condemned, for example by the commentator on Aristotle, Lodovico Castelvetro. At the same time, the argument of poetic license was also often invoked: it actually became the most common position on this issue. Vergil’s literary canonization, moreover, meant that the version of Dido’s life in theAeneidwas the only story that was known and cited, and from the 17th century onwards it totally supplanted the exemplary version. Strangely enough, permissiveness towards anachronism in treatises, prefaces, or comments on literary works was not accompanied by any development of counterfactual literature in early modern period. Indeed, in both narrative and theatrical genres fiction owed its development and legitimization to the triumph of the criterion of plausibility.This article, however, discusses several examples that illustrate how the affirmation of fiction in the early modern period was expressed through minor variations on anachronism: the counterfictional form of Ronsard’s epic,La Franciade, which represents an explicit deviation from theIliad; the metaleptic meeting of Vergil and Dido in the Underworld in Fontenelle’sLe dialogue des morts; and the provocative proposal for a completely different version of Dido’s life, which was made in an early 17th century Venetian operatic work by an author who claimed to be anti-Aristotelian. This study thus intends to provide an aspect of the story of fiction. The change of perspective on anachronism marks a retreat from moral argument, with privilege given to aesthetic criteria and relative independence with regard to history – while still moderated by the criterion of verisimilitude, as underlined by the abbé d’Aubignac, as well as Corneille.

Genre Decorum as Precondition of Renaissance Genre-Bending

ABSTRACT Early modern arguments by Giason Denores, Ben Jonson, John Milton, and others for genre integrity and against genre mixing are worth examining on their own terms. For one thing, the claim for genre integrity was often accompanied by a fierce belief in the political relevance of dramatic genres to which we today would be very sympathetic. Moreover, many early modern approaches to mixed genres, such as Battista Guarini’s argument for tragicomedy on the basis of both his play Il pastor fido and a series of theoretical treatises he wrote against his antagonist Giason Denores, actually depended upon the principle of genre integrity. Early modern tragicomedy, as articulated by Guarini and as practised by Shakespeare in his late plays, was designed not to contrast unstably comedic and tragedic effects and perspectives, unlike Beckett’s modern tragicomedy Waiting for Godot, for example, but to fashion its own, aesthetically unified form under the aegis of mixture.

The Place of Subjectivity

Abstract The modern debate on the theory of prudential values is largely structured around the issue of how to accommodate the role of subjectivity: a prudentially good life (unlike, say, a morally good life) seems to be necessarily a life that is good for the person living it. The present article aims at clarifying this crucial role of subjectivity in the ontology of prudential values. It tries to show that this role, rightly understood, can be fully and satisfactorily accounted for by a strong realism in the theory of prudential value. Subjectivist intuitions that prove incompatible with such a realist framework, it is argued, can be convincingly rejected on independent grounds.

Hamletand Habit: The Renaissance Problem of Programmable Life

AbstractQuestions of “habit” and “custom” recur throughout William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, as they do elsewhere in early modern culture, in theological, legal and moral philosophical debate as well a...

V.D. Бonch-Bruyevich: «Professional» Revolutionary and One of the Founders of the Study of Religion in Soviet Union

The article is devoted to the first stage of the life and work of the scientist and researcher of minority religious groups, V.D. Bonch-Bruyevich (1873-1955). This choice is not accidental, since the beginning of the scientist’s creative and research journey is inextricably linked with his development as an individual and personality, his human qualities, desires and aspirations. Based on the methodology of intellectual history, the article attempts to reconstruct the history of the life and work of Bonch-Bruyevich. Thanks to the friendship with V.I. Lenin and active revolutionary activities, an important role was played by organizational work, as well as propaganda (from the early years of the 20th century, when he was an editor, publisher and employee of social democratic and Bolshevik newspapers and magazines). V.D. Bonch-Bruyevich entered the nomenklatura elite of the new state and in 1918 occupied the position of business manager of the Council of People’s Commissars. But unlike many activists of the revolutionary movement who before the revolution of 1917 perceived representatives of minority religious groups as «companions», he defended the believers’ rights to freedom of conscience before and after the revolution. At the same time, Bonch-Bruyevich never left his scientific activity and continued to practise until his last days, combining organizational and scientific work. His huge contribution to the study of religion in Russia and the formation of Soviet religious studies can not be overestimated. Studying the life and work of Bonch-Bruyevich, like other researchers of the Soviet period, is quite important, especially in the context of modern debates about Soviet humanities.

Spiritual intelligence can heal South Africa and Christianity has a major role to play

In South Africa (SA), we live in a sick society with drugs, alcohol abuse, rape, murder, shootings, theft, hijackings, gambling, pornography and so many more evils. What is wrong in SA? The author of this article argues that our problems in SA are a result of God, religion and religious scriptures being marginalised in society – a growing absence of spiritual intelligence. A lack of spiritual intelligence contributes to people’s abuse of power. This power abuse can be prevented once human race has been made aware of a supernatural power. This awareness, known as spiritual intelligence, thus seems to be an answer to our country’s problems. The author shows how the idea of spiritual intelligence has emerged into a modern debate and how the importance of spiritual intelligence has become known and debated among academics, psychologists, educators and business people. This article suggests that Christianity should take part in this debate and play a role in developing spiritual intelligence, in making human race aware of the supernatural power of the Christian God, in providing moral behaviour that can benefit the world by bringing religion back to society to prevent power abuse and to heal an out-of-control world.

Article III and the History of Nationwide Injunctions: A Response to Professor Sohoni

In a recent article in the Harvard Law Review entitled, “The of the ‘Universal’ Injunction,” Professor Mila Sohoni contends that Article III permits federal courts to issue injunctions because they have issued such orders since the early 1900s. She offers 15 main examples of federal cases from between 1894 and 1943 in which she contends that the court issued injunctions. These historical precedents, she argues, legitimize the continued constitutionality of injunctions today. This Essay demonstrates that the Article III objection to injunctions survives Professor Sohoni's critique for three main reasons. First, the only case that Lost History discusses in which the Supreme Court expressly addressed the validity of injunctions, Perkins v. Lukens Steel Co., largely rejected them. Perkins' express consideration of such orders carries far greater weight than inferences drawn from a handful of other cases, many from lower courts, that do not consider potential Article III concerns. Second, most of the orders on which Lost History focuses are not the type of injunctions at the heart of most modern debates over the issue. The term nationwide is ambiguous, encompassing up to five fundamentally different type of orders that each raise distinct jurisdictional, rule-based, fairness-related, prudential, and structural concerns. The ongoing controversy concerning so-called injunctions involves a type of order that I call a injunction. A defendant-oriented injunction prohibits a governmental defendant from enforcing a challenged legal provision against anyone, anywhere in the nation, including third-party non-litigants in other jurisdictions. Most of the orders that Lost History cites are not defendant-oriented injunctions. Instead, they have materially different characteristics and are properly classified as completely distinct types of injunctions. These orders do not establish that federal courts have a lengthy history of issuing broad or statewide defendant-oriented injunctions aimed at enforcing the rights of third-party non-litigants. Finally, even treating all 15 orders as relevant examples, they prove very little. In most cases, the scope of the order was neither contested by the parties nor addressed by the Supreme Court. To the contrary, in several cases, the Government implicitly or explicitly consented to the requested relief on an interim basis, alleviating the need for the Court to consider their propriety. Perhaps more importantly for the examples involving constitutional challenges to state laws, most federal districts in the period had only one or two district judges, who adjudicated such matters as part of three-judge trial-court panels. Whether a district court granted a statewide defendant-oriented injunction was usually irrelevant as a practical matter, since any future constitutional challenges to that state law were virtually certain to be heard by the same judge. Thus, even if such orders were technically improper, it is entirely understandable under the circumstances that defendants would not have wasted time challenging them. In short, the history of injunctions does little to establish the constitutionality of defendant-oriented injunctions. Particularly in light of Article III precedent as it has evolved over the decades since, the Article III objection to such orders remains compelling.

Intervención de la Unión Europea en República Democrática del Congo ¿Construyendo la Democracia?

El presente trabajo analiza la cooperación de la Unión Europea (UE) con la República Democrática del Congo (RDC) cuya intención principal fue la realización de elecciones en 2005 y, al mismo tiempo, crear las instituciones electorales y democráticas pertinentes y duraderas en el citado país africano, fomentando los valores universales de calidad democrática y respeto a derechos humanos. En ese sentido, se reconstruye brevemente la situación de conflictividad de la RDC con la intención de demostrar no solo la dificultad para llevar a cabo sus primeras elecciones libres sino la historia moderna de violencia y debilidad estatal que la reviste. Luego, se explica la intervención europea y se analiza bajo las visiones liberales y neocoloniales, cuyas explicaciones son necesarias para continuar con el debate moderno acerca de la cooperación internacional entre países desiguales.

Tenure of Office and the Treasury: The Constitution and Control over National Financial Policy, 1787 to 1867

The disputed scope of the President’s authority to remove subordinates in the executive branch, and to direct them in the performance of their functions, is one of the central issues of federal constitutional law. On the one hand, some argue that Article II gives the President such authority. By contrast, others claim that the Constitution allows Congress to regulate the tenure of office of executive branch officers by limiting the President’s removal power. In the context of this debate, some have argued that financial institutions—the components of the “treasury”—were historically insulated from presidential control. They rely on early Congresses’ creation of several commissions with the Chief Justice as a member, establishment of the First and Second Banks of the United States, and use of distinct language to establish the Department of the Treasury and some of its officers. This Article shows that these claims are incorrect. Drawing on congressional and executive sources, case law, and contemporaneous treatises, this Article demonstrates that the prevailing view in the years between the Constitution’s adoption and the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson was that financial government institutions were no different from other parts of the federal government for purposes of presidential control. The President had the constitutional authority to remove officials within the Department of the Treasury. The institutions over which presidential control was conspicuously lacking—the First and Second Banks of the United States—were generally understood to be private, rather than arms of the government, and to perform non-sovereign functions. But to the extent the Bank was understood to perform sovereign functions, its opponents argued that it did so impermissibly, using a variation of the modern argument that Congress may not delegate such functions to private entities. This Article’s exploration of these issues both bears on contemporary debates about the scope of the President’s removal power and shows how early expositors of the Constitution understood the allocation of federal government control over national financial policy.