The issue of choosing a Supreme Court Justice
Essay - 8 pages - Constitutional law
Introduction In recent years, the stability of the Supreme Court has been challenged as a direct result of changes in the specific members that comprise the Court. Up until 2006, specific patters of decision-making could clearly be delineated. However, the death of Chief Justice William...
The Supreme Court: America's judicial body of power
Essay - 9 pages - Constitutional law
This paper analyzes the ways in which the Supreme Court's function has transformed, its current structure, and the issues that presently surround the Court. In order to maintain freedom and prosperity for the American people, the founding fathers explicitly divided up government responsibilities...
UK and French legal system : structural and conception differences
Case study - 6 pages - Civil law
The governing laws and its legal system in France and the United Kingdom have major differences, as each of the legal systems have and are based on various views. France is governed by the Constitution of 1958. All the French laws are based on this text. In the United Kingdom, the laws are...
The contribution made to the concept of the supremacy of European Community Law by the judgment of the European Court of Justice
Essay - 5 pages - International law
The tension between European Community law (EC) and national law is arguably the most debated topic of constitutional law . The convention of Parliamentary supremacy is rooted within the British constitution as a fundamental limb of the separation of powers doctrine . Constitutional...
From judging to legislating: The Supreme Court as a law-making body
Essay - 4 pages - Journalism
Whether the judicial branch in the United States should exercise activism or restraint has been debated since before the constitution was ratified. Delegates to the Constitutional Convention in 1787 were split on the issue, and left Article III of the Constitution purposefully...
Pragmatism and idealism in the process of nation-building (1781-1788)
Essay - 7 pages - Modern history
Idealism without pragmatism is impotent. Pragmatism without idealism is meaningless. The key to effective leadership is pragmatic idealism. (Richard Nixon). Were the very first years of the new nation, born of the American Revolution, marked by a spirit of pragmatic...
Slavery and politics in early America
Thesis - 6 pages - Modern history
The legal practice of slavery in the United States of America ended on December 6th, 1865 with the passage of the 13th amendment to the Constitution. In the wake of the terrible carnage of the American Civil War, people have tried to make sense over what the hundreds of thousands of lives...
Power equations in the political system of the United States
Thesis - 5 pages - Political science
Article 28 of the Universal Declaration of the Human Rights (1793) states that- "a group of people always have the right to revise, reform and change the constitution; a generation cannot subject future generations to its laws." This provision implies that the constituent power is always...
English legal system: The Sources of English Law
Course material - 87 pages - Constitutional law
The judicial decisions are the first to be found to develop a system. Today, they are still influencing the system as a whole. Judicial decisions have a weight that their continental counter part does not have. In England, under certain requirements, decisions are biding the judge with the...
Characteristics of the German parliamentary government in comparison to the British model
Thesis - 6 pages - Constitutional law
The British system is a result of a rich and complex history that began from the thirteenth century. It has undergone many changes to reach its current form. It continues to evolve and adapt to the society that it governs. The German system has been introduced before 1949, and Germany was...
Belgian administrative law: Definition, characteristics and sources
Thesis - 11 pages - Administrative law
Administrative law is a set of legal rules other than constitutional law that establish the organization, functions and working procedures of the administrative structures of the state. It comprises all the legal rules, other than constitutional law. The Constitution is the foundation of...
The View of an Originalist
Book review - 7 pages - Humanities/philosophy
In Keith Whittington's book, Constitutional Interpretation: Textual Meaning, Original Intent, and Judicial Review, he uses a quote, originally articulated by Plato, that helps explain the diametrically opposing views the judicial system faces today: And once a thing is put in writing, the...
Japanese military independence
Essay - 7 pages - Political science
The Japanese Self-Defense Force (SDF) was developed as a provisionary force during the Cold War and is restricted under Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution. The SDF has been under much scrutiny over the most recent decade. Debates regarding the amendment or abolition of Article 9...
(Re)Constructing Afghanistan: After the Bonn agreement
Essay - 17 pages - International relations
The 5th of December 2001, the Bonn agreement was the first text attempting to build a basis for a new start of the Afghan nation after the American invasion. It was set by international actors as different as the UN, who supervised the conference, the US, the EU, Saudi Arabia and the World Bank....
How an EU military could affect world peace through international law
Thesis - 12 pages - International law
There is no greater motivation for European unification than the desire for peace. Just like the UN, the EU wants to avoid the scourge of war for its future generations. In times of peace, the world forgets that the EU is not an economic coalition, but is instead a peaceful, foreign...
The attempt by Franklin D. Roosevelt to court packing and the lasting affects it has on today's political structure
Thesis - 6 pages - Civil law
In 1937 President Franklin Roosevelt (FDR) introduced the new deal reforms, which have been described as the biggest political blunder of his career . Yet it was fortuitous, even pivotal, importance for the fate of Social Security (Zelizer, 2000). Notwithstanding the...
The separation of powers, checks and balances in the United States
Thesis - 5 pages - Political science
The American Constitution is the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man.' It is with these words that William Gladstone describes the Supreme Law of the United States. This famous document, written by the Founding Fathers and ratified in 1789,...
Outline and critique the role of the Supreme Court in the American political system
Thesis - 6 pages - Political science
This remark from a future Chief justice of the United States Supreme Court highlights both the major place of the Constitution and of the Supreme Court in the American political system. The Constitution is a symbol of nationhood for the Americans, the reference on how to run their...
Evaluate the Importance of the Supreme Court in the US Political System: In What Ways Is It a Political Actor?
Essay - 5 pages - Constitutional law
The Supreme Court, the highest court in the American judicial system, is one of the three branches of the US national government. In 1803, a mechanism was put in place to ensure that governmental officials and governmental institutions would respect the limitations prescribed in the "Supreme Law...
Canadian Politics
Tutorials/exercises - 10 pages - Political science
Canadian politics in the 20th century was full of prominent and colourful politicians, but none were as controversial as Pierre Elliot Trudeau. Pierre Trudeau was a French-Canadian born and raised in Montreal who grew up to become one of the most influential characters in Canadian history. He was...
International organisations and sovereignty
Thesis - 3 pages - International relations
The French campaign for the referendum on the European Constitution has perfectly shown the fear of a loss of state sovereignty due to the European Union within the political elite as well as within the society. With the increase of international organisations, that can be defined as...
Women representation in politics: A comparative approach between France and the Nordic countries
Dissertation - 32 pages - Political science
Nowadays women are increasingly accessing to high political positions in State office. Indeed, three women recently reached the status of Head of State in different countries: Michelle Bachelet in Chile, Ellen Johnson-Sirlead in Liberia, and Tarja Halonen in Finland. Moreover, women play more...
Electoral emendation: Changing the college that chooses our commander-in-chief
Essay - 11 pages - Political science
Stewart is an elector representing the state of Vermont in the Electoral College for the election of the president. The popular vote has been tallied and it is time to finally elect the president. The results for Vermont's popular vote tells Stew that he is supposed to vote for Blaine Darvy,...
What is meant by the French party system, and what has produced its changing form in the period since 1958?
Essay - 5 pages - Political science
The French party system emerged in the form of parliamentary factions in the Third Republic. Soon enough, these factions were no longer only evident at the parliamentary level, but were organising the nation. From 1958, there is a considerable change in the organisation of the political parties...
Former Soviet Republics of Central Asia and democracy
Essay - 6 pages - Political science
Nowadays, Central Asia can be considered as the Heartland, that is to say the center of geopolitical positioning, given the abundance of natural resources in the region. Indeed this area, particularly Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, benefits from oil and natural gas reserves among the...
Is it a human rights violation and not enforcing the law
Thesis - 13 pages - Civil law
In Deshaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a U.S. state's failure to protect an individual against private violence generally does not constitute a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause. The court reasoned that while the...
An analysis of National coalition to save Mall V. Norton
Thesis - 14 pages - Administrative law
The Constitution provides for the protection of rights from the will of the majority through the separation of powers doctrine. Controversy arises when Congress attempts to limit the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, set forth in Article III, section 2 of the...
The presidential system of governance in United States
Thesis - 6 pages - Political science
According to George Vedel former professor of public law, the presidential system of governance is a system of strict separation of powers. When viewed in this sense, the American political system appears to be the only example of a presidential system in the world. It is based on a strict...
Does Rawl's account of the original position imply any theory of the person, or of personal identity?
Essay - 5 pages - Humanities/philosophy
Rawls account of the 'original position' is subject to many criticisms from communitarian philosophers. While this account constitutes the very basis from which he derives his theory of justice, it is regarded as being flawed and thus compromises the validity of his whole theory. The...
Key Landmark Decisions of the United States of America Supreme Court
Case study - 4 pages - Civil law
Two landmark decisions of the United States of America Supreme Court, Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896) and Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966) have a played a key role in anchoring constitutionalism and have provided a varied interpretation of the constitution in everyday...