chapter 8 Flashcards
Why did constitutions emerge
1500s-1600s (thirty years war) Europe is constantly at war. Ends with the peace of Westphalia and states are starting become autonomous from each other and constitutions were so that states would clearly state how they would govern themselves. to limit the use of arbitrary power
what ended thirty years war
peace of westphalia
peace of westphalia
end of the thirty years war where every state is equal and autonomous from each other is introduced.
the rule of law
everyone including the rulers are bound by the law and cannot act against it.
key functions of law
determines criminal behaviour, prescribes punishments to criminals, impartial laws for the adjudication of disputes
Anthony king’s definition of constitution
set of the most important rules that state how government institutions must govern themselves in relation to themselves and the people governed
two concepts of constitutions
overall political structure of the state and the political culture
document the specifies the basic rights of citizens, institutions of the state, and the procedures of changing them
Mackenzie Papineau Rebellions
elected representatives of the legislature rebel because the system (federalism) did not allow them to have any influence the cabinet, they wanted responsible government
leaders of Mackenzie Papineau rebellions
Mackenzie (upper Canada) Papineau (lower Canada)
Lord Durham
British send him to study the Canadian problem
confederation of Canada
1867
two types of governments
unitary government: power is centralized unto one sovereign governing body
federalism: power is decentralized and divided
history of federalism
Americans first try it out, it leads to English civil war. This gives it a bad rep, Canada doesn’t want to use it but still has to deal with the French-English divide so they create responsible gov’t
8 requirements of the rule of law
Lon Fuller; general, public, prospective, clear, consistent, enforced as written, capable of being obeyed, relatively constant
constitutionalism
a normative outlook on political life; doing things according to the spirit of the constitution
constitutional courts
police the government to make sure they do not infringe on the people’s rights and safe guard the constitution
4 different ways constitutional courts define justice
legal positivism- judges just enforce the law as it is written do not consider whether the phrasing is adequate
communist- the law play a part in a bigger non-legal goal which is to secure communism
Islamic approach- facts of the case are made to fit orthodox beliefs
procedural justice- the fair and similar process for cases that are alike
political monism
the belief their are no fundamental divisions in phenomena
legal pluralism
multiple legal systems within one population, no systematic codification of legal precedents
Consociationalism
alternative to federalism, where the elites of divided societies share power; some argue that it is better at handling multiethnic communities
4 features of consociationalism
Ardent Lijphart; gov’t by coalition, proportional representation, minority vetoes on certain legislation, subcultural autonomy
asymmetry federalism
hybrid between unitary and federal gov’t
asymmetry federalism examples
Spain, Pakistan
secularism
religion has no privileged position in the state
