Home  About us  Contact
 

Political Association (political + association)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Law and Criminology66%
Humanities and Social Sciences33%

Selected Abstracts

Equality and Constitutional Indeterminacy An Interpretative Perspective on the European Economic Constitution

EUROPEAN LAW JOURNAL, Issue 2 2001
Alexander Somek
It is claimed that European supranationalism represents an unprecedented mode of political association whose point is to maintain what is good about nationality and the nation state by stripping the latter of its adverse effects. In this article, this claim is submitted to a test by examining how different ways of conceiving of anti-discrimination in the context of intra-Community trading law give rise to two different conceptions of the European economic constitution. While the first one is married to the ideal of behavioural anti-discrimination,that is, of affording protection against discriminatory acts by Member States,whose application would seemingly leave the nation state in its place, the other one takes a system of nation states as something that in and of itself engenders systematically discriminatory effects on international trade. According to the latter, effective anti-discrimination presupposes overcoming such a system altogether. Both conceptions of the economic constitution are manifest in Community law, and at first glance it appears as if adherence to the first one would be consonant with supranationality as a special mode of political association. However, owing to internal predicaments arising from the application of the equality principle (understood as a principle protecting against discrimination), the difference between both conceptions cannot be upheld in practice. Since the first conception is constantly undermined by the second in the course of its application, it remains uncertain, at least in this context, whether or not the European nation state is left in place by the European Economic Constitution. [source]

Constitutional responses to extremist political associations ,ETA, Batasuna and democratic norms

LEGAL STUDIES, Issue 1 2008
Ian Cram
Systems of representative democracy require that the electorate be given at regular intervals the opportunity to replace the party in government with a rival political association. In this context, the right of individuals to freedom of association permits the formation of competitor parties and prevents forms of state intervention that might otherwise privilege existing office holders and their political programmes. It follows then that restrictions on the right to political association are deserving of particularly close scrutiny. At the same time, liberal democratic constitutions usually insist that participants in electoral process manifest a level of commitment to core liberal democratic norms (such as the rule of law, toleration, the equal worth of each individual and the peaceful resolution of grievances). In the case of intolerant, extremist parties that would reject some/most of these norms, the state may invoke a range of defensive measures up to and including proscription in order to safeguard democracy. This paper takes as its focus the constitutional issues raised by the banning in Spain of Batasuna , the political wing of ETA. A legal challenge to the ban is currently before the European Court of Human Rights. Making reference to work of John Rawls, this paper considers whether the ban on Batasuna is justifiable in terms of liberal political theory, before analysing the extent to which proscription conforms to international human rights law and European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence. [source]

Triangular Contests and Caucus Rhetoric at the 1885 General Election*

PARLIAMENTARY HISTORY, Issue 2 2008
JAMES OWEN
This article explores the role played by late-Victorian political associations during parliamentary election campaigns. The central hypothesis is that party organisation, known popularly as the ,caucus', is best understood as a rhetorical device used by politicians and the press to gain legitimacy in the new context created by an expanded and quasi-democratic electorate. The hypothesis is tested by examining the 1885 general election campaigns in Nottingham West and Sheffield Central. Both constituencies witnessed a triangular contest whereby an ,additional' candidate, standing on a radical platform, entered the campaign and pursued a distinctly ,anti-caucus' agenda that was aimed primarily at the local Liberal Party Association. The manner in which the ,caucus' issue was articulated by all sides involved throws new light on the role played by party organisation during this period. While all sides described their association in a way that both defended and asserted its legitimacy, they equally used ,anti-caucus' rhetoric to diminish the credibility of their opponent's organisation, even though they were emulating the deeds they were denouncing. Indeed, it was those within official Liberalism that indulged in the most virulent ,anti-caucus' rhetoric. Thus, it is suggested that, with regard to the attitude of radicals towards official Liberalism, this ,anti-caucus' rhetoric reflected not a real popular resistance against party organisation or ,party', but simply intense competition and imitation between rival ,caucuses'. [source]

What's the Civil in Civil Society?

POLITICAL STUDIES, Issue 4 2003
Italy, Robert Putnam, the Republican Tradition
Robert Putnam's Making Democracy Work implies a conception of civil society with claims to republican ancestry. However, in four ways, he misses the more ,political' understanding of this Enlightenment category in republican writers, including his hero, Tocqueville. Where Putnam's civic community is spontaneous and voluntaristic, republicans emphasise the creation of civil society from above by state-building and broader political associations. Where his civic spirit is local, republicans stress polity-centred citizenship identification. Where Putnam's ,social capital' is a generalised, all-purpose resource with positive effects, modern republicans such as Tocqueville stress normative ambiguities of civic space and see the associational cradles of modern trust and solidarity as more demanding. Finally, where his civil society is a harmonious, ,functioning' place, republicans often stress conflict between citizens and between citizens and the state. A reconsideration of empirical and theoretical problems in his analysis suggests that a more republican conceptualisation of civil society would have facilitated different questions and more interesting answers. [source]