Unit 2 State and Stateless Societies: Political Institutions
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Democracy in the United States
Democracy in the United States The United States is a representative democracy. This means that our government is elected by citizens. Here, citizens vote for their government officials. These officials represent the citizens’ ideas and concerns in government. Voting is one way to participate in our democracy. Citizens can also contact their officials when they want to support or change a law. Voting in an election and contacting our elected officials are two ways that Americans can participate in their democracy. Voting booth in Atascadero, California, in 2008. Photo by Ace Armstrong. Courtesy of the Polling Place Photo Project. Your Government and You H www.uscis.gov/citizenship 1 Becoming a U.S. Citizen Taking the Oath of Allegiance at a naturalization ceremony in Washington, D.C. Courtesy of USCIS. The process required to become a citizen is called naturalization. To become a U.S. citizen, you must meet legal requirements. You must complete an interview with a USCIS officer. You must also pass an English and Civics test. Then, you take the Oath of Allegiance. This means that you promise loyalty to the United States. When you become a U.S. citizen, you also make these promises: ★ give up loyalty to other countries ★ defend the Constitution and laws of the United States ★ obey the laws of the United States ★ serve in the U.S. military (if needed) ★ do important work for the nation (if needed) After you take the Oath of Allegiance, you are a U.S. citizen. 2 Your Government and You H www.uscis.gov/citizenship Rights and Responsibilities of Citizens Voting is one important right and responsibility of U.S. -
Markets Not Capitalism Explores the Gap Between Radically Freed Markets and the Capitalist-Controlled Markets That Prevail Today
individualist anarchism against bosses, inequality, corporate power, and structural poverty Edited by Gary Chartier & Charles W. Johnson Individualist anarchists believe in mutual exchange, not economic privilege. They believe in freed markets, not capitalism. They defend a distinctive response to the challenges of ending global capitalism and achieving social justice: eliminate the political privileges that prop up capitalists. Massive concentrations of wealth, rigid economic hierarchies, and unsustainable modes of production are not the results of the market form, but of markets deformed and rigged by a network of state-secured controls and privileges to the business class. Markets Not Capitalism explores the gap between radically freed markets and the capitalist-controlled markets that prevail today. It explains how liberating market exchange from state capitalist privilege can abolish structural poverty, help working people take control over the conditions of their labor, and redistribute wealth and social power. Featuring discussions of socialism, capitalism, markets, ownership, labor struggle, grassroots privatization, intellectual property, health care, racism, sexism, and environmental issues, this unique collection brings together classic essays by Cleyre, and such contemporary innovators as Kevin Carson and Roderick Long. It introduces an eye-opening approach to radical social thought, rooted equally in libertarian socialism and market anarchism. “We on the left need a good shake to get us thinking, and these arguments for market anarchism do the job in lively and thoughtful fashion.” – Alexander Cockburn, editor and publisher, Counterpunch “Anarchy is not chaos; nor is it violence. This rich and provocative gathering of essays by anarchists past and present imagines society unburdened by state, markets un-warped by capitalism. -
The Relevance of Federal Norms for State Separation of Powers Michael C
Roger Williams University Law Review Volume 4 | Issue 1 Article 3 Fall 1998 The Relevance of Federal Norms for State Separation of Powers Michael C. Dorf Columbia University Follow this and additional works at: http://docs.rwu.edu/rwu_LR Recommended Citation Dorf, Michael C. (1998) "The Relevance of Federal Norms for State Separation of Powers," Roger Williams University Law Review: Vol. 4: Iss. 1, Article 3. Available at: http://docs.rwu.edu/rwu_LR/vol4/iss1/3 This Symposia is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at DOCS@RWU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Roger Williams University Law Review by an authorized administrator of DOCS@RWU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Relevance of Federal Norms for State Separation of Powers Michael C. Dorf* INTRODUCTION Of the American Constitution's three most distinctive fea- tures-federalism, judicial protection of individual rights and sep- aration of powers'-only the last has been held inapplicable to the states. First, federalism is, by its terms, a doctrine of power-shar- ing between the national and state governments. The distribution of authority between nation and states was the chief point of con- tention during the period of the Constitution's framing and ratifi- cation, and in recent years, the United States Supreme Court has vigorously enforced federalism norms. 2 Second, although the origi- nal Constitution contained relatively few individual rights provi- sions applicable to the states,3 during the last half-century, the Supreme Court has interpreted the Due Process and Equal Protec- tion Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendments as providing exten- sive protection for individual rights against state interference. -
THE RISE of COMPETITIVE AUTHORITARIANISM Steven Levitsky and Lucan A
Elections Without Democracy THE RISE OF COMPETITIVE AUTHORITARIANISM Steven Levitsky and Lucan A. Way Steven Levitsky is assistant professor of government and social studies at Harvard University. His Transforming Labor-Based Parties in Latin America is forthcoming from Cambridge University Press. Lucan A. Way is assistant professor of political science at Temple University and an academy scholar at the Academy for International and Area Studies at Harvard University. He is currently writing a book on the obstacles to authoritarian consolidation in the former Soviet Union. The post–Cold War world has been marked by the proliferation of hy- brid political regimes. In different ways, and to varying degrees, polities across much of Africa (Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbab- we), postcommunist Eurasia (Albania, Croatia, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine), Asia (Malaysia, Taiwan), and Latin America (Haiti, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru) combined democratic rules with authoritarian governance during the 1990s. Scholars often treated these regimes as incomplete or transi- tional forms of democracy. Yet in many cases these expectations (or hopes) proved overly optimistic. Particularly in Africa and the former Soviet Union, many regimes have either remained hybrid or moved in an authoritarian direction. It may therefore be time to stop thinking of these cases in terms of transitions to democracy and to begin thinking about the specific types of regimes they actually are. In recent years, many scholars have pointed to the importance of hybrid regimes. Indeed, recent academic writings have produced a vari- ety of labels for mixed cases, including not only “hybrid regime” but also “semidemocracy,” “virtual democracy,” “electoral democracy,” “pseudodemocracy,” “illiberal democracy,” “semi-authoritarianism,” “soft authoritarianism,” “electoral authoritarianism,” and Freedom House’s “Partly Free.”1 Yet much of this literature suffers from two important weaknesses. -
The Democracy Principle in State Constitutions
Columbia Law School Scholarship Archive Faculty Scholarship Faculty Publications 2021 The Democracy Principle in State Constitutions Jessica Bulman-Pozen Columbia Law School, [email protected] Miriam Seifter University of Wisconsin Law School, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/faculty_scholarship Part of the Constitutional Law Commons, Election Law Commons, Law and Politics Commons, Legislation Commons, and the State and Local Government Law Commons Recommended Citation Jessica Bulman-Pozen & Miriam Seifter, The Democracy Principle in State Constitutions, 119 MICH. L. REV. 859 (2021). Available at: https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/faculty_scholarship/2654 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Publications at Scholarship Archive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of Scholarship Archive. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE DEMOCRACY PRINCIPLE IN STATE CONSTITUTIONS Jessica Bulman-Pozen*& Miriam Seifter** In recent years, antidemocratic behavior has rippled across the nation. Lame- duck state legislatures have stripped popularly elected governors of their pow- ers; extreme partisan gerrymanders have warped representative institutions; state officials have nullified popularly adopted initiatives. The federal Consti- tution offers few resources to address these problems, and ballot-box solutions cannot work when antidemocratic actions undermine elections themselves. Commentators increasingly decry the rule of the many by the few. This Article argues that a vital response has been neglected. State constitu- tions embody a deep commitment to democracy. Unlike the federal Constitu- tion, they were drafted—and have been repeatedly rewritten and amended— to empower popular majorities. -
I MAYA POLITICAL ORGANIZATION DURING THE
MAYA POLITICAL ORGANIZATION DURING THE TERMINAL CLASSIC PERIOD IN THE COCHUAH REGION, QUINTANA ROO, MEXICO, FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF A SECONDARY SITE A Dissertation Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY by Tatiana Zelenetskaya Young July 2016 Examining Committee Members: Anthony Ranere, Advisory Chair, TU Department of Anthropology Michael Stewart, TU Department of Anthropology Patricia Hansell, TU Department of Anthropology Dave Johnstone, co-director of Cochuah Region Archeological Survey Lisa Lucero, External Member, Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign i © Copyright 2016 by TatianaZelenetskayaYoung ii ABSTRACT The dissertation examines the political organization of the ancient Maya during the Terminal Classic Period in the Cochuah Region of Quintana Roo. It evaluates the architecture and site layout of the secondary sites of Sacalaca and San Felipe, and tertiary and quaternary sites surrounding them in order to test political models. Our understanding of the ancient Maya political organization largely comes from Classic Period hieroglyphic texts recorded by Maya kings on public monuments. This reliance on only these kinds of data creates a limitation on the interpretation of political organization, and does not address the local scale of political institution within Maya polities. It also creates the illusion of a centralization of political organization and biases towards primary sites where hieroglyphic monuments are located. The alternative data available for the evaluation of political organization are the regional settlement pattern, individual site layouts and site architecture. Certain types of architecture such as acropoli, mortuary temples, formal plazas and ballcourts, are representative of the institutions of rulership permitting to determine the type of political organization. -
Rethinking Anarchy and the State in IR Theory: the Contributions of Classical Anarchism*
Rethinking Anarchy and the State in IR Theory: The Contributions of Classical Anarchism* Alex Prichard University of Bristol © Alex Prichard School of Sociology, Politics, and International Studies, University of Bristol Working Paper No. 03-10 Dr Alex Prichard gained his PhD from Loughborough University in 2008. His research brings to light the international political theory of the anarchist Pierre- Joseph Proudhon, and will be published by Routledge in 2011 in the 'New International Relations' series as The International Political Theory of Pierre- Joseph Proudhon: A World Without Sovereigns. He is founder and convenor of the PSA Anarchist Studies Network and is co-editor of 'Contemporary Anarchist Studies', a new book series to be published by Continuum from 2010. Dr Prichard was a teaching fellow and research officer at the University of Bath (2008-2009) and is currently an ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Bristol. He will be a teaching fellow in International Political Theory at the LSE from September 2010. *Please do not cite without the author’s permission. Comments welcome to [email protected] Rethinking Anarchy and the State in IR Theory: The Contributions of Classical Anarchism Abstract: In this paper I intervene in an ongoing debate between Colin Wight and Alex Wendt regarding the nature of the state. The current debate revolves around whether the state is an agent or a structure and seems to have become stuck as regards to the ontological status of groups. For Wendt the state is a person; for Wight the state is a structure that constrains and enables individuals. -
A Study of Permaculture and Anarchism in Global Justice Movements in New Zealand
AN ALTERNATIVE TO DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK: A STUDY OF PERMACULTURE AND ANARCHISM IN GLOBAL JUSTICE MOVEMENTS IN NEW ZEALAND By Tazia Gaisford A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Development Studies Victoria University of Wellington 2011 2 Abstract This study is a response to calls for alternatives to development by post- development authors and critics of post-development alike. It asks “can the praxis of permaculture and anarchism provide an alternative to development?” Although alternatives to development arguably do not exist untouched by the dominant development paradigm, it is possible to imagine and to create the different possible organisations based on principles of mutual aid, direct action and self-management. Anarchism as a politically focused social philosophy and permaculture as an ecologically focused design philosophy are mutually beneficial in strengthening each other. The combined analysis of alternatives to development uses case studies in the Wellington Region, primarily Climate Camp Aotearoa, with permaculture and anarchist principles, and contributes another perspective to the post-development debate. The two approaches share converging central ethics, principles and struggles of praxis. They recognise that transformative change is necessary. Whether it is called a cultural revolution, transition or paradigm shift, the underlying recognition is that we need to live more harmoniously with each other and the natural environment by creating diverse post-industrial societies. Many tools, principles and processes advocated by alternative development and post-development are the same. However, the combination of those tools, principles and processes, and how they are designed and applied in relation to each other systemically, are significant in determining whether or not the intent is that of an alternative to development. -
Philosophical Anarchism: the View That There Is No Duty to Obey the State, and That the State Is Not Morally Legitimate
Philosophical anarchism: The view that there is no duty to obey the state, and that the State is not morally legitimate We should be careful, first and foremost, to distinguish this view from other views that might be called “anarchist”. The philosophical anarchist position does not endorse overthrowing the state, nor does it say anything about any particular response that we ought to have to the existence of certain states. Contemporary philosophical anarchist John Simmons claims that “Philosophical anarchists hold that there are good reasons not to oppose or disrupt at least some kinds of illegitimate states, reasons that outweigh any right or obligation of opposition. The practical stance with respect to the state, the philosophical anarchist maintains, should be one of careful consideration and thoughtful weighing of all the reasons that bear on action in a particular set of circumstances.” Cited in Wetman, Cristopher Heath. Is There a Duty to Obey the Law? Cambridge University Press. 2005. pp. 24-25. We’ll be looking at some arguments for the main PA position a little later on, but for now it will be of interest to say what advocates of PA might have to say about the State of Nature. Why exactly is the state of nature to be avoided, according to the views we’ve seen so far? -War of all against all (Hobbes) -Disagreements about how to exercise the “Executive Power” that we all have to punish the wrongdoings of others will lead to unrest between people. (Locke) -Our drive for self-improvement will eventually lead us to a situation in which we are not well-suited to survive without political arrangements (Rousseau) But is the state of nature really that bad? Anarchist suggestion: The problems that we encounter in civilized society are generally caused by the existence of government, and not solved by it Let’s take this claim at face value. -
Separation of Powers Between County Executive and County Fiscal Body
Separation of Powers Between County Executive and County Fiscal Body Karen Arland Ice Miller LLP September 27, 2017 Ice on Fire Separation of Powers Division of governmental authority into three branches – legislative, executive and judicial, each with specified duties on which neither of the other branches can encroach A constitutional doctrine of checks and balances designed to protect the people against tyranny 1 Ice on Fire Historical Background The phrase “separation of powers” is traditionally ascribed to French Enlightenment political philosopher Montesquieu, in The Spirit of the Laws, in 1748. Also known as “Montesquieu’s tri-partite system,” the theory was the division of political power between the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary as the best method to promote liberty. 2 Ice on Fire Constitution of the United States Article I – Legislative Section 1 – All legislative Powers granted herein shall be vested in a Congress of the United States. Article II – Executive Section 1 – The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. Article III – Judicial The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. 3 Ice on Fire Indiana Constitution of 1816 Article II - The powers of the Government of Indiana shall be divided into three distinct departments, and each of them be confided to a separate body of Magistracy, to wit: those which are Legislative to one, those which are Executive to another, and those which are Judiciary to another: And no person or collection of persons, being of one of those departments, shall exercise any power properly attached to either of the others, except in the instances herein expressly permitted. -
Owh6sigrist 01.Pdf
Christian Sigrist: Segmentary Societies: The Evolution and Actual Relevance of an Interdisciplinary Conception. in: Bernhard Streck (Hg.): Segmentation und Komplementarität. Organisatorische, ökonomische und kulturelle Aspekte der Interaktion von Nomaden und Sesshaften. Beiträge der Kolloquia am 25.10.2002 und 27.06.2003. Halle 2004 (Orientwissenschaftliche Hefte 14; Mitteilungen des SFB „Differenz und Integration“ 6) S. 3–31. © Christian Sigrist 2004 Segmentary Societies: The Evolution and Actual Relevance of an Interdisciplinary Conception* Christian Sigrist 1. The evolution of the conception in a colonial context and its sociological and anthropological roots In the first year of the Second World War Meyer Fortes and Edward Evans-Pritchard published a reader on African Political Systems (APS) as an attempt to bring into focus one of the major problems of “African sociology” (1940: VII): This epistemic designation appears to be remark- able. The editors could have named it as well: African ethnology. The deviation from academic routine corresponded on the one hand to the epistemological orientation of the “British School” of social anthropology. On the other hand, it ostentatively elevated African societies on the same cognitive level as “advanced” industrial societies paying tribute to rising sensitivity among African intellectuals. And thirdly, the title reflects acute political concerns of colonial policy, particularly in the field of indirect rule. The authors drew attention to the contradictory results of British interventions in the domain of indirect rule in different types of societies. Whereas non-centralised societies were exposed to a process of centralisa- tion by the introduction of chieftainship, in the centralised ones the power of traditional chiefs was diminished. -
Social Structure and Conflict
Kinship and Conflict: Evidence from Segmentary Lineage Societies in Sub-Saharan Africa Jacob Moscona*† M.I.T. Nathan Nunn*‡ Harvard University, NBER and BREAD James A. Robinson*§ University of Chicago, NBER, and BREAD 31 July 2019 Abstract: We test the long-standing hypothesis that ethnic groups that are organized around ‘segmentary lineages’ are more prone to conflict. Ethnographic accounts suggest that in segmentary lineage societies, which are characterized by strong allegiances to distant rel- atives, individuals are obligated to come to the aid of fellow lineage members when they become involved in conflicts. As a consequence, small disagreements often escalate to larger-scale conflicts involving many individuals. We test for this link between segmentary lineage and conflict across 145 African ethnic groups in sub-Saharan Africa. Using a number of estimation strategies, including an RD design at ethnic boundaries, we find that segmentary lineage societies experi- ence more conflicts and particularly ones that are retaliatory, long in duration, and large in scale. Key words: Conflict, Civil Conflict, Social Structure, Segmentary Lineage, Kinship jel classification: D74,O55,Z1. *For helpful feedback and comments, the authors thank Jean Ensminger, James Fenske, Francisco Gallego, Joseph Henrich, Saumitra Jha, Sara Lowes, Beatriz Magaloni, Stelios Michalopoulos, Jake Shapiro, Dean Yang, Pierre Louis- Vezina, Scott Walker, and Max Winkler, as well as seminar participants at U.C. Berkeley, University of British Columbia, University of Connecticut, Brown, Chicago Harris, University of Minnesota, M.I.T, U.C. Irvine, Princeton, Simon Fraser, Stanford, and various conferences. We thank Mohammad Ahmad, Aditi Chitkara, Ariel Gomez, Sherif Mabrouk, Matthew Summers, Adam Xu, and Juan Camilo Yamin for excellent research assistance.