European Union and Federalism
Essay - 4 pages - European union
In 1948, federalists formulated a project of United States of Europe at a Congress in La Haye. But they were defeated by unionists who wanted mere intergovernmental cooperation between European states. Nowadays, this continues to be a recurrent debate: is the European Union (EU) a federal state?...
Are there limits to the capacities of the president of the United States?
Essay - 9 pages - Political science
"The best government is which governs least." This quote from the third President of the United States of America, Thomas Jefferson, raises explicitly the central issue that transcends the American political system, namely the extent of presidential powers.It is interesting to note that the...
The role of American Government: Protecting Civil Liberties
Thesis - 4 pages - Political science
This paper explores the idea that the American government's most important role is to protect civil liberties. Civil liberties are enjoyed every day by many citizens and include such freedoms as the right to bear arms, freedom of religion, and protection from cruel and unusual punishment. This...
The Federalists vs. the Anti-Federalists
Essay - 2 pages - Modern history
When the United States Constitution was first being written there was a critical division between two groups called the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. The Federalists opposed the Constitution and believed in a loose construction of government. The Anti- Federalists, on the...
The party of European socialists and the identity of European social democracy
Essay - 9 pages - Political science
The question wether there is currently something that can be called the crisis of social-democracy is arguable: after all, social-democractic and socialist parties are still the counterpart of Conservatives and Christian-democrats, sharing alternaltively government responsibilities at national...
What are the challenges facing the EU in its attempts to establish democratic institutional structures ?
Thesis - 7 pages - European law
“It is time to recognise that the Union has moved from a diplomatic to a democratic process, with policies that reach deep into national societies and daily life” . This statement by the European Commission subsumes ten years of political and academic on-going debate on the...
Appropriate and necessary: The U.S. Supreme Court's need to intervene in Bush v. Gore
Essay - 6 pages - Political science
The presidential election of the year 2000 will be the source of controversy for years to come. Since its conclusion on Dec.12, 2000, in the U.S. Supreme Court, volumes have been written criticizing the court's decision in Bush v. Gore - which stopped hand recounts of ballots in Florida and gave...
Is Islam an obstacle to democracy?
Thesis - 17 pages - Journalism
‘On my arrival in the United States the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention', Tocqueville reports in Democracy in America. Even though religion cannot be considered formally as a part of the American political system, Tocqueville depicts it as the...
The relationship between the different types of suffrage and the creation (or construction) of democratic institutions in France from 1789 to 1870
Thesis - 5 pages - Political science
From 1789 to 1870 in France, not less than eight constitutions and twelve regimes followed one after another. France also experienced all types of suffrages, from the most restricted one of the Ancient Regime, to the universal manhood suffrage. This period is undeniably crucial to one who...
Explain the chief causes of the conflict in Chechnya
Essay - 5 pages - Political science
The conflict in Chechnya constitutes one of the most burning issues of the post Cold War Russian federation politics. Actually, the two wars, that took place under Yeltsine's and Putin's presidencies, from 1994 to 1996 and from 1999 to 2001, and even to nowadays, have been the most important...
Quebec as a "distinct society"
Thesis - 5 pages - Social sciences
For as long as Quebec has been a part of Canada, there has always been debate about what their role is in Canadian federalism, but in most cases it has been nothing more than debate and rhetoric on both sides. There have always been, and will always be people in Quebec and in the rest of Canada...
What kind of nation?
Thesis - 5 pages - Political science
James F. Simon makes an interesting statement in his book, "What Kind of Nation: Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, and the Epic Struggle to Create a United States," Simon proclaims that the tension between Thomas Jefferson and John Marshall played a huge role in the shaping of our nation. Their...
Reasonable accommodation as outlined by the Canadian Charter of Rights and freedoms, its uses, perception and applicable examples
Thesis - 8 pages - Social sciences
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was established as a result of the Constitution Act of 1982. Its precursor was the Canadian Bill of Rights, dated 1960. The Charter was enacted to guarantee basic human and civil rights for the people of Canada. The earlier protectionism treaty,...
A political analysis of: R. v. Badger
Thesis - 6 pages - Constitutional law
The supreme court of Canada stands as the highest level of court in Canada and is the final stop for all cases which have been appealed from the superior provincial courts. Unlike the lower courts, the supreme court of Canada seats up to nine judges with each appeal seating a minimum of 5...
Taxation limits on local governments; municipalities and school districts in the state of Georgia
Essay - 9 pages - Government finance
There exist a number of limits on taxation both statutory and constitutional that apply in the state of Georgia. The reasons for the existence of such limitations vary, but majorly they are meant to check county government expenditure, Ensure property taxes are maintained at reasonable and...
The British monarchy as of 2008
Thesis - 6 pages - Journalism
The British monarchy is a shared monarchy which can trace its ancestral lineage back to the Anglo-Saxon period. The British monarch or Sovereign is the Head of state of the United Kingdom and in the British overseas territories. So the British monarch is also head of state of sixteen other...
US courts should apply universal principle to Alien Tort cases
Thesis - 10 pages - International law
The Alien Tort Statute, also known as the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA), originally appeared in Section 9 of the first Judiciary Act of 1789, which created the U.S. judicial court system. It provides that the district courts shall have original jurisdiction of any civil action by an alien for a...
Is the U.S. government founded on religious or secular principles?
Case study - 2 pages - Educational studies
US documents, which range as from declaration of independence, declaration of sentiments, US constitution, bill of rights and as well as Jefferson first inaugural address, are very crucial in addressing whether the US government is founded and based under religious or secular policies....
Rights in conflict
Thesis - 2 pages - Political science
The founding era of the United States is often regarded as the great moment, what some have called the perfect time between Machiavelli and Kant. There was however a great divide that stretches through the centuries until today. This divide is based on the power and strength of our constitutional...
"The concept of the Rule of Law as defined by Dicey still remains valid : it provides a measure against which we can judge the attitudes and actions of Parliament, Government and the courts"
Essay - 5 pages - European law
The rule of law is often expounded as a pillar of the English Constitution. It was described by Lord Bingham as "the second great rock on which [Dicey?s] constitutional edifice was founded". It was referred to as a statute for the first time, in the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, as an...
Comparison between the federalism of Germany and America
Thesis - 3 pages - Political science
The character of a ‘federal' state opposes its ‘unitary' form. These are two forms of a State. ‘Scarcity' of the federal form (twenty federal states among 191) can push us to examine its organization and operation. According to Olivier Duhamel, federalism is the "coexistence of...
Transition of Croatia
Essay - 20 pages - Political science
According to Linz and Stephan, five interacting areas need to be in place before a consolidated democracy can exist in a state. First, there must be a free and lively civil society. A civil society is the arena of the polity where self-organizing groups, movements and individuals can express and...
How do the Federal Republic of Germany, Fifth Republic France and post-war Italy fulfil the criteria of Lijphart's 'majoritarian' and 'consensus' models of democracies?
Essay - 4 pages - International relations
This essay will attempt to analyse the Federal Republic of Germany, Fifth Republic France and post-war Italy thanks to Lijphart's work Democracy (1984). Lijphart classifies the ‘majoritarian' model (or ‘Westminster model') and the ‘consensual model', in function of specific...
What is the difference between "liberalization" and "democratization"?
Case study - 3 pages - Political science
In his 1997 article, The Rise of Illiberal Democracy, published in Foreign Affairs, Fareed Zakaria pointed out a phenomenon which had been growing among the newer states emerged from what Samuel Huntington named the Third Wave of Democracy (1990); newly elected powers regularly failing to...
Judicial activism in Canada
Essay - 5 pages - Political science
In 1982, Canada has known a very significant shift with the adoption of the Charter of Right of Freedom. Before this date, Canada only had a Bill of Rights (1960's) which was a statute and did not allow the courts to restrict the action of the Parliament. But the 1982 Charter of Rights and...
Calhoun, Tocqueville and Lincoln's views on tyranny
Thesis - 7 pages - Political science
As the virtues and advantages of democracy were rediscovered at the end of the eighteenth century, so were its defects and drawbacks. Most authors, including Tocqueville, were faced with an empirical and theoretical vacuum in describing this new regime which began to rise in America and in France...
Black life in US between 1865 and 1910
Case study - 3 pages - Educational studies
Reconstruction is a name which was given to the period between the end of the civil war in United States when federal troops were pulled out of the south. It was during the reconstruction period when the union army occupied the south. It was also during this time when the blacks voted and the...
Oliver Wendell Holmes: The Great Dissenter of his time or of All time?
Essay - 6 pages - Medieval history
Oliver Wendell Holmes earned the reputation of the” Great Dissenter.” He commonly took a different path in the interpretation of Constitutional law. His most controversial and provocative dissents involved freedom of speech. Even though he was considered to be a literal and...
Economic stimulus packages and bail outs
Essay - 3 pages - Economy general
One of the largest and most frightening problems associated with the economic stimulus packages and the bail outs is the idea that the government is simply ignoring the powers and limits the Constitution applies to it. This can be a frightening scenario because the Constitution was...
Can we have a world government?
Essay - 5 pages - International relations
To answer the question “Can we have world government”, we must understand two questions: one is “What would be the use and necessity of a world government”; the other one is “In what extent would it be possible?” “A government is a system, form or organization...
