The New Constitution Movement

The New Constitution Movement PDF Author: Martinus François
Publisher: Trafford Publishing
ISBN: 1466913894
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 78

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Book Description
THE NEW CONSTITUTION MOVEMENT sets out boldly to fill the void that was left after the disbanding of the Constitutional Review Commission and its Report, which became yet another casualty of the myopic self-interest of our postcolonial two-party dictatorship political system in St. Lucia known as the Westminster Model. The extraordinary thing about THE NEW CONSTITUTION MOVEMENT is that it should be read as a fitting epitaph to the Westminster Model of political governance bequeathed to us by London as part of our 1979 Independence gift. The basic postulation of THE NEW CONSTITUTION MOVEMENT is that government and politics in St. Lucia, the OECS and the wider Caribbean needs to be reinvented for a post-postcolonial 21st-century society. The fact is, building a new 21st-century society on the wreckage of the old and decrepit postcolonial structures involves the design of new, more appropriate political systems which must be altogether tougher, more challenging, more positive, more ambitious, more inspirational, more generational and, above all, more transformational. This book shows how, through a process of social reengineering, we need to radically overhaul or even scrap many of the hitherto sacred cows of the colonially inherited Westminster system to the point that they may even lose some of their traditional meanings: the Monarchy, the Office of Governor-General, the Executive Branch, the Office of Prime Minister, the Cabinet System, the Legislative Branch, the Senate, the Office of Leader of the Opposition, the Political Parties, the Public Service, Local and Municipal Government, and last but not least, Regional Integration.

The New Constitution Movement

The New Constitution Movement PDF Author: Martinus François
Publisher: Trafford Publishing
ISBN: 1466913894
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 78

Get Book

Book Description
THE NEW CONSTITUTION MOVEMENT sets out boldly to fill the void that was left after the disbanding of the Constitutional Review Commission and its Report, which became yet another casualty of the myopic self-interest of our postcolonial two-party dictatorship political system in St. Lucia known as the Westminster Model. The extraordinary thing about THE NEW CONSTITUTION MOVEMENT is that it should be read as a fitting epitaph to the Westminster Model of political governance bequeathed to us by London as part of our 1979 Independence gift. The basic postulation of THE NEW CONSTITUTION MOVEMENT is that government and politics in St. Lucia, the OECS and the wider Caribbean needs to be reinvented for a post-postcolonial 21st-century society. The fact is, building a new 21st-century society on the wreckage of the old and decrepit postcolonial structures involves the design of new, more appropriate political systems which must be altogether tougher, more challenging, more positive, more ambitious, more inspirational, more generational and, above all, more transformational. This book shows how, through a process of social reengineering, we need to radically overhaul or even scrap many of the hitherto sacred cows of the colonially inherited Westminster system to the point that they may even lose some of their traditional meanings: the Monarchy, the Office of Governor-General, the Executive Branch, the Office of Prime Minister, the Cabinet System, the Legislative Branch, the Senate, the Office of Leader of the Opposition, the Political Parties, the Public Service, Local and Municipal Government, and last but not least, Regional Integration.

Constitutional Revolution

Constitutional Revolution PDF Author: Gary Jeffrey Jacobsohn
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300252889
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 382

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Book Description
Few terms in political theory are as overused, and yet as under-theorized, as constitutional revolution. In this book, Gary Jacobsohn and Yaniv Roznai argue that the most widely accepted accounts of constitutional transformation, such as those found in the work of Hans Kelsen, Hannah Arendt, and Bruce Ackerman, fail adequately to explain radical change. For example, a “constitutional moment” may or may not accompany the onset of a constitutional revolution. The consolidation of revolutionary aspirations may take place over an extended period. The “moment” may have been under way for decades—or there may be no such moment at all. On the other hand, seemingly radical breaks in a constitutional regime actually may bring very little change in constitutional practice and identity. Constructing a clarifying lens for comprehending the many ways in which constitutional revolutions occur, the authors seek to capture the essence of what happens when constitutional paradigms change.

A More Perfect Constitution

A More Perfect Constitution PDF Author: Larry J. Sabato
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0802777562
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 353

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Book Description
"The reader can't help but hold out hope that maybe someday, some of these sweeping changes could actually bring the nation's government out of its intellectual quagmire...his lively, conversational tone and compelling examples make the reader a more than willing student for this updated civics lesson." --The Hill The political book of the year, from the acclaimed founder and director of the Center for politics at the University of Virginia. A More Perfect Constitution presents creative and dynamic proposals from one of the most visionary and fertile political minds of our time to reinvigorate our Constitution and American governance at a time when such change is urgently needed, given the growing dysfunction and unfairness of our political system . Combining idealism and pragmatism, and with full respect for the original document, Larry Sabato's thought-provoking ideas range from the length of the president's term in office and the number and terms of Supreme Court justices to the vagaries of the antiquated Electoral College, and a compelling call for universal national service-all laced through with the history behind each proposal and the potential impact on the lives of ordinary people. Aware that such changes won't happen easily, but that the original Framers fully expected the Constitution to be regularly revised, Sabato urges us to engage in the debate and discussion his ideas will surely engender. During an election year, no book is more relevant or significant than this.

The Federalist Papers

The Federalist Papers PDF Author: Alexander Hamilton
Publisher: Read Books Ltd
ISBN: 1528785878
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 455

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Book Description
Classic Books Library presents this brand new edition of “The Federalist Papers”, a collection of separate essays and articles compiled in 1788 by Alexander Hamilton. Following the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776, the governing doctrines and policies of the States lacked cohesion. “The Federalist”, as it was previously known, was constructed by American statesman Alexander Hamilton, and was intended to catalyse the ratification of the United States Constitution. Hamilton recruited fellow statesmen James Madison Jr., and John Jay to write papers for the compendium, and the three are known as some of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Alexander Hamilton (c. 1755–1804) was an American lawyer, journalist and highly influential government official. He also served as a Senior Officer in the Army between 1799-1800 and founded the Federalist Party, the system that governed the nation’s finances. His contributions to the Constitution and leadership made a significant and lasting impact on the early development of the nation of the United States.

Constitution Cafe

Constitution Cafe PDF Author: Christopher Phillips
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393064808
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 334

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Book Description
Thomas Jefferson proposed that we revise the Constitution every so often, not just to reflect the changing times but to revive and perpetuate our original revolutionary spirit. Could it be that the Constitution itself is part of the reason that our democracy is on life support, our government gone haywire? To find out, the author, originator of the Socrates Café dialogues, sets off on a cross-country junket to engage Americans of all stripes in an offbeat constitutional convention. Given the opportunity to rewrite the Constitution, a diverse bunch from Burning Man die hards to army veterans, Tea Party acolytes to Orange County slackers, weighs in with some really wild and worthwhile ideas about how our nation should be governed. With Jefferson as his iconoclastic and visionary guide, the author moderates these discussions and complements his participants' ideas by relating them to Jefferson's own experiences with governance and to his great expectations for our democracy. This book is an account of how we might draw from our rebellious past to incite meaningful change today; it is a map for inspiring Jeffersonian activism by tapping into our timely (and timeless) concerns about the need to give our country's democratic framework a makeover.

The Workplace Constitution from the New Deal to the New Right

The Workplace Constitution from the New Deal to the New Right PDF Author: Sophia Z. Lee
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316061191
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 429

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Book Description
Today, most Americans lack constitutional rights on the job. Instead of enjoying free speech or privacy, they can be fired for almost any reason or no reason at all. This book uses history to explain why. It takes readers back to the 1930s and 1940s when advocates across the political spectrum - labor leaders, civil rights advocates and conservatives opposed to government regulation - set out to enshrine constitutional rights in the workplace. The book tells their interlocking stories of fighting for constitutional protections for American workers, recovers their surprising successes, explains their ultimate failure, and helps readers assess this outcome.

Letters on the revolution of France, and on the new constitution established by the National Assembly

Letters on the revolution of France, and on the new constitution established by the National Assembly PDF Author: Thomas Christie
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 496

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Book Description


The People’s Constitution

The People’s Constitution PDF Author: John F. Kowal
Publisher: The New Press
ISBN: 1620975629
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 493

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Book Description
The 233-year story of how the American people have taken an imperfect constitution—the product of compromises and an artifact of its time—and made it more democratic Who wrote the Constitution? That’s obvious, we think: fifty-five men in Philadelphia in 1787. But much of the Constitution was actually written later, in a series of twenty-seven amendments enacted over the course of two centuries. The real history of the Constitution is the astonishing story of how subsequent generations have reshaped our founding document amid some of the most colorful, contested, and controversial battles in American political life. It’s a story of how We the People have improved our government’s structure and expanded the scope of our democracy during eras of transformational social change. The People’s Constitution is an elegant, sobering, and masterly account of the evolution of American democracy. From the addition of the Bill of Rights, a promise made to save the Constitution from near certain defeat, to the post–Civil War battle over the Fourteenth Amendment, from the rise and fall of the “noble experiment” of Prohibition to the defeat and resurgence of an Equal Rights Amendment a century in the making, The People’s Constitution is the first book of its kind: a vital guide to America’s national charter, and an alternative history of the continuing struggle to realize the Framers’ promise of a more perfect union.

The Revolutionary Constitution

The Revolutionary Constitution PDF Author: David J. Bodenhamer
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019991303X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
The framers of the Constitution chose their words carefully when they wrote of a more perfect union--not absolutely perfect, but with room for improvement. Indeed, we no longer operate under the same Constitution as that ratified in 1788, or even the one completed by the Bill of Rights in 1791--because we are no longer the same nation. In The Revolutionary Constitution, David J. Bodenhamer provides a comprehensive new look at America's basic law, integrating the latest legal scholarship with historical context to highlight how it has evolved over time. The Constitution, he notes, was the product of the first modern revolution, and revolutions are, by definition, moments when the past shifts toward an unfamiliar future, one radically different from what was foreseen only a brief time earlier. In seeking to balance power and liberty, the framers established a structure that would allow future generations to continually readjust the scale. Bodenhamer explores this dynamic through seven major constitutional themes: federalism, balance of powers, property, representation, equality, rights, and security. With each, he takes a historical approach, following their changes over time. For example, the framers wrote multiple protections for property rights into the Constitution in response to actions by state governments after the Revolution. But twentieth-century courts--and Congress--redefined property rights through measures such as zoning and the designation of historical landmarks (diminishing their commercial value) in response to the needs of a modern economy. The framers anticipated just such a future reworking of their own compromises between liberty and power. With up-to-the-minute legal expertise and a broad grasp of the social and political context, this book is a tour de force of Constitutional history and analysis.

The Broken Constitution

The Broken Constitution PDF Author: Noah Feldman
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN: 0374720878
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice An innovative account of Abraham Lincoln, constitutional thinker and doer Abraham Lincoln is justly revered for his brilliance, compassion, humor, and rededication of the United States to achieving liberty and justice for all. He led the nation into a bloody civil war to uphold the system of government established by the US Constitution—a system he regarded as the “last best hope of mankind.” But how did Lincoln understand the Constitution? In this groundbreaking study, Noah Feldman argues that Lincoln deliberately and recurrently violated the United States’ founding arrangements. When he came to power, it was widely believed that the federal government could not use armed force to prevent a state from seceding. It was also assumed that basic civil liberties could be suspended in a rebellion by Congress but not by the president, and that the federal government had no authority over slavery in states where it existed. As president, Lincoln broke decisively with all these precedents, and effectively rewrote the Constitution’s place in the American system. Before the Civil War, the Constitution was best understood as a compromise pact—a rough and ready deal between states that allowed the Union to form and function. After Lincoln, the Constitution came to be seen as a sacred text—a transcendent statement of the nation’s highest ideals. The Broken Constitution is the first book to tell the story of how Lincoln broke the Constitution in order to remake it. To do so, it offers a riveting narrative of his constitutional choices and how he made them—and places Lincoln in the rich context of thinking of the time, from African American abolitionists to Lincoln’s Republican rivals and Secessionist ideologues. Includes 8 Pages of Black-and-White Illustrations