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Direct Democracy an Overview of the International IDEA Handbook © International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance 2008
Direct Democracy An Overview of the International IDEA Handbook © International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance 2008 International IDEA publications are independent of specific national or political interests. Views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the views of International IDEA, its Board or its Council members. The map presented in this publication does not imply on the part of the Institute any judgement on the legal status of any territory or the endorsement of such boundaries, nor does the placement or size of any country or territory reflect the political view of the Institute. The map is created for this publication in order to add clarity to the text. Applications for permission to reproduce or translate all or any part of this publication should be made to: International IDEA SE -103 34 Stockholm Sweden International IDEA encourages dissemination of its work and will promptly respond to requests for permission to reproduce or translate its publications. Cover design by: Helena Lunding Map design: Kristina Schollin-Borg Graphic design by: Bulls Graphics AB Printed by: Bulls Graphics AB ISBN: 978-91-85724-54-3 Contents 1. Introduction: the instruments of direct democracy 4 2. When the authorities call a referendum 5 Procedural aspects 9 Timing 10 The ballot text 11 The campaign: organization and regulation 11 Voting qualifications, mechanisms and rules 12 Conclusions 13 3. When citizens take the initiative: design and political considerations 14 Design aspects 15 Restrictions and procedures 16 Conclusions 18 4. Agenda initiatives: when citizens can get a proposal on the legislative agenda 19 Conclusions 21 5. -
Comments on the Law on Occupied
Strasbourg, 4 March 2009 CDL(2009)045* Opinino no. 516/2009 Engl.only EUROPEAN COMMISSION FOR DEMOCRACY THROUGH LAW (VENICE COMMISSION) COMMENTS ON THE LAW ON OCCUPIED TERRITORIES OF GEORGIA Ms Angelika NUSSBERGER (Substitute Member, Germany) *This document has been classified restricted on the date of issue. Unless the Venice Commission decides otherwise, it will be declassified a year after its issue according to the rules set up in Resolution CM/Res(2001)6 on access to Council of Europe documents. This document will not be distributed at the meeting. Please bring this copy. www.venice.coe.int CDL(2009)045 - 2 - Introduction The Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly has asked the Venice Commission to assess the law of Georgia “On occupied territories of Georgia” which was enacted on 23 October 2008. The reporters were provided with an English translation of the relevant law as well as with additional information, i.e. an extract of the Criminal Code of Georgia (Articles 322/1 and 344), an extract of the Georgian Law on General Education (Article 63/1) and an extract of the Georgian Law on High Education (Article 89/1). They were also sent “Information regarding the criminal charges being brought against foreigners having breached the law on occupied territories”. The “Law on Occupied Territories of Georgia” is based on the perception that the two break- away regions of the Republic of Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, are part of the Republic of Georgia, but are illegally occupied by the Russian Federation. This understanding is clearly expressed by the reference to the sovereignty and integrity of Georgia in the preamble to the law and the qualification of the presence of military forces as “illegal military occupation of the territory of a sovereign country”. -
The State Action Doctrine and the Principle of Democratic Choice
THE STATE ACTION DOCTRINE AND THE PRINCIPLE OF DEMOCRATIC CHOICE Wilson R. Huhn* I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................ 1380 II. THE TRUE PURPOSE OF THE STATE ACTION DOCTRINE .......... 1383 III. THE “S TATE ACTION /P RIVATE ACTION ” DICHOTOMY ............ 1386 A. Textual Basis for the “State Action/Private Action” Dichotomy .......................................................... 1387 B. Critique of the Supreme Court’s Distinction Between State Action and Private Action ....................................... 1388 C. Critique of Progressive Scholarship Regarding the “State Action/Private Action” Dichotomy ....................... 1393 IV. THE “S TATE ACTION /S TATE INACTION” DICHOTOMY ............ 1397 A. The Principle of Democratic Choice with Regard to Civil Rights and Social Welfare Rights ............................ 1398 B. Textual and Historical Arguments Regarding Affirmative Duties ............................................................ 1399 C. Judicial Interpretation and Scholarly Commentary upon Social Welfare Rights ....................................................... 1404 D. The Principle of Democratic Choice and Social Welfare Rights .................................................................. 1407 E. Education and Protection as Affirmative Duties .............. 1407 F. Conclusion ........................................................................ 1415 V. THE “M ERE REPEAL /D ISTORTION OF GOVERNMENTAL PROCESS ” DICHOTOMY ........................................................... -
Sponsoring a Statewide Initiative Or Referendum Petition
September 2021 SPONSORING A STATEWIDE INITIATIVE, REFERENDUM OR CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT PETITION The Michigan Constitution provides: “The people reserve to themselves the power to propose laws and to enact and reject laws, called the initiative, and the power to approve or reject laws enacted by the legislature, called the referendum.” Article 2, § 9 of the 1963 Michigan Constitution. “Amendments may be proposed to this constitution by petition of the registered electors of this state.” Article 12, § 2 of the 1963 Michigan Constitution. These rights are invoked through the statewide ballot proposal petitioning process, which is governed by the Michigan Election Law and overseen by the Secretary of State and Board of State Canvassers. Once a petition is filed with the Secretary of State, signatures are subjected to a verification process and the Board of State Canvassers determines whether the petition contains enough valid signatures to qualify for placement on the ballot at the next even-year, general November election. This publication outlines legal requirements and provides guidance to those interested in launching a petition drive to initiate new legislation, amend or repeal existing laws, subject newly enacted laws to a referendum vote, or amend the state constitution. There are different filing deadlines in effect for the 2021-2022 election cycle. This guide also highlights best practices which, although not legally required, are offered so that sponsors may minimize the risk that an error could disqualify the petition. Legislative changes enacted in late 2018 and subsequent legal developments in 2019- 2020 altered the process for preparing and circulating statewide ballot proposal petitions. -
Initiative Coordinator INITIATIVE COORDINATOR Office of the Attorney General ATTORNEY GENERAL's OFFICE State of California P.O
1 5 - 0 0 4 5 John Cox P. 0. Box 3844 Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067 ~CEIVEa Ashley Johansson JUL 2 3 2015 Initiative Coordinator INITIATIVE COORDINATOR Office of the Attorney General ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE State of California P.O. Box 994255 Sacramento, CA 94244-25550 Re: Request for Title and Summary for Proposed Initiative Dear Ms. Johansson: Pursuant to Article II, Section 10(d) of the California Constitution, I am submitting the attached proposed statewide ballot measure ("The Neighborhood Legislature Reform Act") to your office and request that you prepare a circulating title and summary of the measure as provided by law. I have also included with this letter the required signed statement pursuant to California Elections Code sections 9001 and 9608, and a check in the amount of$200. My address as registered to vote is shown on Attachment 'A' to this letter. Thank you for your time and attention to this important matter. Should you have any questions or require additional information, please contact the undersigned at (847) 274-8814. Very Truly Yours, -- 15-0045 :I INITIATIVE MEASURE TO BE SUBMITTED TO VOTERS SECTION 1. DECLARATION OF FINDINGS A. Our state Legislature does not serve the interests of the citizens. The Legislature only serves the special interests. Prior attempts at reform have all failed. B. The problem is that our Legislative districts are too big and cost taxpayers too much money. Our Legislators represent too many constituents. The average assembly district in the other 49 states has approximately 50,000 citizens. The average assembly district in California is nearly 10 times larger- approaching nearly 500,000 citizens. -
Here Only Five Per Cent of the 168 Ad Hoc Panelists Who Served During the GATT Period Were Women
Celebrating women in WTO dispute settlement The WTO dispute settlement system recently reached a milestone, when a woman was selected to serve on a panel for the 100th time since the establishment of the WTO in 1995. This represents an achievement not only for the WTO, but for international adjudication more generally. Traditionally, women have not been well represented on international adjudicative bodies. For example, during its more than 75 years of operation, almost all judges of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) have been male. Only four women have been elected to the ICJ, the first ever in 19951, and four women have served temporarily as ad hoc judges in specific cases before the Court.2 One woman, Dame Rosalyn Higgins, has served as President of the Court. The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea has a shorter yet similar history. Only one woman has been elected to the Tribunal out of a total of 41 judges elected since August 19963, and no women have served temporarily as ad hoc judges in specific cases. The field of investor-state arbitration has not fared much better. A 2015 study found that only 25 of the 499 arbitrators appointed in such disputes between the 1970s and the end of 2014 were women, making up approximately five per cent of the total.4 The European Court of Human Rights features slightly higher numbers, with 37 (or approximately 16 per cent) of the 184 judges elected since 1959 being women.5 Ms Işıl Karakaş of Turkey is currently serving as the Vice-President of the ECHR, following in the footsteps of one other woman Vice-President.6 The same tradition was found in international trade adjudication, where only five per cent of the 168 ad hoc panelists who served during the GATT period were women. -
An Empirical Appraisal of the Liberty of Contract
An Empirical Appraisal of the Liberty of Contract “I got my first job when I was nine. Worked at a sheet metal factory. In two weeks, I was running the floor. Child labor laws are ruining this country.” -Ron Swanson Aaron Gordon Honors Thesis Department of Political Science Northwestern University Advisor: Prof. Daniel Galvin May 3, 2017 1 Abstract From approximately 1895-1937, the US Supreme Court interpreted the Constitution’s Due Process clauses to implicitly protect a “Liberty of Contract”—the right of individuals to make contracts without arbitrary government interference. The Court relied on this principle to invalidate a variety of regulatory measures, including maximum hours and minimum wage laws. The Court abandoned its enforcement of this doctrine in 1937, and today, the Liberty of Contract is widely condemned by legal thinkers as right-wing judicial activism. Supposedly, the Court’s protection of contractual freedom imposed a strict laissez-faire ideology on the country, interfered with Progressive reform legislation, and harmed public welfare—especially that of workers, consumers, and the poor. But such claims are often made without empirical support. My aim here is to evaluate, based on the surviving data and evidence, the practical impacts of the Liberty of Contract by examining a) the extent to which the doctrine interfered with policymakers’ efforts at economic regulation, and b) the economic and social effects of notable decisions in which the Court invalidated legislation on Liberty-of-Contract grounds. I conclude a) that the Court was quite deferential to legislators in Liberty-of-Contract cases, though its decisions to invoke the doctrine in invalidating laws were often arbitrary; and b) that the societal effects of such invalidations were often either neutral or positive. -
Draft Study on Individual Access to Constitutional Justice
Strasbourg, 8 December 2010 CDL(2010)134* Study N° 538 / 2009 Or. Engl. EUROPEAN COMMISSION FOR DEMOCRACY THROUGH LAW (VENICE COMMISSION) DRAFT STUDY ON INDIVIDUAL ACCESS TO CONSTITUTIONAL JUSTICE on the basis of comments by Mr Gaguik HARUTYUNYAN (Member, Armenia) Ms Angelika NUSSBERGER (Substitute Member, Germany) Mr Peter PACZOLAY (Member, Hungary) *This document has been classified restricted on the date of issue. Unless the Venice Commission decides otherwise, it will be declassified a year after its issue according to the rules set up in Resolution CM/Res(2001)6 on access to Council of Europe documents. This document will not be distributed at the meeting. Please bring this copy. http://www.venice.coe.int CDL(2010)134 - 2 - Table of contents INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................6 GENERAL REMARKS......................................................................................................6 I. ACCESS TO CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW ................................................................15 I.1. TYPES OF ACCESS...................................................................................................16 I.1.1. Indirect access ....................................................................................................16 I.1.2. Direct access.......................................................................................................20 I.2. THE ACTS UNDER REVIEW ........................................................................................27 -
Members of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (2010)
Members of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (2010) Mr. Mario ACKERMAN (Argentina), Director of the Labour Law and Social Security Department and Professor, Labour Law Chair, University of Buenos Aires; former adviser to the Parliament of Argentina; former Director of the Labour Police of the National Ministry of Labour and Social Security of the Republic of Argentina. Mr. Anwar Ahmad Rashed AL-FUZAIE (Kuwait), Docteur en droit; Professor of Law; Professor of Private Law of the University of Kuwait; attorney; former member of the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC); member of the Administrative Board of the Centre of Arbitration of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Kuwait; Member of the Governing Body of the International Islamic Centre for Mediation and Commercial Arbitration (Abu Dhabi); former Director of Legal Affairs of the Municipality of Kuwait; former Director of Legal Affairs of the Bank KFH; former Adviser to the Embassy of Kuwait in Paris. Mr. Denys BARROW S.C. (Belize), Justice of Appeal for the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court; former High Court Judge for Belize, Saint Lucia, Grenada and the British Virgin Islands; former Chairperson of the Social Security Appeals Tribunal in Belize; former member of the Committee of Experts for the Prevention of Torture in the Americas. Ms. Janice R. BELLACE (United States), Samuel Blank Professor and Professor of Legal Studies, Business Ethics and Management of the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; Trustee and Founding President, Singapore Management University; Senior Editor, Comparative Labor Law and Policy Journal; President-elect of the International Industrial Relations Association; member of the Executive Board of the US branch of the International Society of Labor Law and Social Security; member of the Public Review Board of the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implements Workers’ Union; former Secretary of the Section on Labor Law, American Bar Association. -
Comments on the Role of the Opposition
Strasbourg, 25 May 2009 CDL-DEM(2009)002* Or. Engl. Study no. 497/2008 EUROPEAN COMMISSION FOR DEMOCRACY THROUGH LAW (VENICE COMMISSION) COMMENTS ON THE ROLE OF THE OPPOSITION by Ms Angelika NUSSBERGER (Substitute Member, Germany) *This document has been classified restricted on the date of issue. Unless the Venice Commission decides otherwise, it will be declassified a year after its issue according to the rules set up in Resolution CM/Res(2001)6 on access to Council of Europe documents. This document will not be distributed at the meeting. Please bring this copy. www.venice.coe.int CDL-DEM(2009)002 - 2 - Legal assessment and standards concerning the role of the opposition in democratic regimes The Parliamentary Assembly has elaborated a comprehensive document on “Procedural guidelines on the rights and responsibilities of the opposition in a democratic parliament”. It is based on a comparative analysis of existing rules on the role, function and rights of the parliamentary opposition and also takes into account documents on topical discussions on new rules on this subject. Resolution No. 1601 (2008) summarizes procedural guidelines, but nevertheless stresses the necessity of a study on the role of opposition in modern democratic society by the Venice Commission. The Venice Commission had to deal with the role of parliamentary opposition when assessing the Draft Law on the Parliamentary Opposition in Ukraine (Opinion No. 422/2006, CDL-AD(2007)015. In this opinion the Commission doubts and reserves its position on “whether it is appropriate to regulate all questions concerning the opposition in a single law and, if so, what procedural guarantees in favour of the opposition need to exist in respect of the adoption of such a law by the majority (Para. -
Statewide Initiative Guide
2022 CA LIFORNIA SECRETARY OF STATE Statewide Initiative Guide Preface The Secretary of State has prepared this Statewide Initiative Guide, as required by Elections Code section 9018, to provide an understanding of the procedures and requirements for preparing and circulating initiatives, for filing sections of the petition, and describing the procedure of verifying signatures on the petition. This Guide is for general information only and does not have the force and effect of law, regulation, or rule. In case of conflict, the law, regulation, or rule will apply. Interested persons should obtain the most up-to-date information available because of possible changes in law or procedure since the publication of this Guide. Background and History of the Initiative Process In a special election held on October 10, 1911, California became the 10th state to adopt the initiative process. That year, Governor Hiram Johnson began his term by promising to give citizens a tool they could use to adopt laws and constitutional amendments without the support of the Governor or the Legislature. The new Legislature put a package of constitutional amendments on the ballot that placed more control of California politics directly into the hands of the people. This package included the ability to recall elected officials, the right to repeal laws by referendum, and the ability to enact state laws by initiative. The initiative is the power of the people of California to propose statutes and to propose amendments to the California Constitution. (Cal. Const., art. II, § 8(a).) Generally, any matter that is a proper subject of legislation can become an initiative measure; however, no initiative measure addressing more than one subject area may be submitted to the voters or have any effect. -
Chapter 10 Principles for Parliamentary Assistance
II.10. PRINCIPLES FOR PARLIAMENTARY ASSISTANCE – 111 Chapter 10 Principles for parliamentary assistance These principles were prepared by Greg Power, Director of Global Partners & Associates for the OECD/DAC/GOVNET and presented to the Fourth Annual Donor Co-ordination Meeting on Parliamentary Support and the 16th Plenary Meeting of the OECD/DAC Network on Governance on 24-25 April 2012. ACCOUNTABILITY AND DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE: ORIENTATIONS AND PRINCIPLES FOR DEVELOPMENT © OECD 2014 112 – II.10. PRINCIPLES FOR PARLIAMENTARY ASSISTANCE Parliaments perform a vital role in any system of representative democracy, but they play an especially important role in emerging democracies – not only in improving the quality of governance by ensuring transparency and accountability, but also in shaping the public’s expectations and attitudes to democracy. Parliaments are the single most important institution in overseeing government activity, scrutinising legislation and representing the public’s concerns to those in power. Their performance in holding government to account and engaging with voters will help to establish the norms and values in the early years of a democratic culture. Although traditionally a small part of international support programmes, donors have paid greater attention to the role of parliaments in the last decade or so. Most support programmes usually seek to improve the effectiveness of the institution in one of their three key functions: 1. Legislation: Assessment of the legislative function will be concerned with how well parliament scrutinises and amends bills, or whether it instead simply acts as a rubber-stamp for the executive. 2. Oversight: Parliamentary oversight is the main means by which government is held to account; parliaments should ensure government departments are run efficiently and that ministers are regularly called to account for their actions, policies and spending.