The Experts below are selected from a list of 51042 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Jeffrey L Jensen - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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direct democracy constitutional reform and political inequality in post colonial america
Studies in American Political Development, 2020Co-Authors: Mario Chacon, Jeffrey L JensenAbstract:The ratification of constitutional changes via Referendum is an important mechanism for constraining the influence of elites, particularly when representative institutions are captured. While this electoral device is commonly employed cross-nationally, its use is far from universal. We investigate the uneven adoption of mandatory Referendums by examining the divergence between Northern and Southern U.S. states in the post-independence period. We first explore why states in both regions adopted constitutional conventions as the primary mechanism for making revisions to fundamental law, but why only Northern states adopted the additional requirement of ratifying via Referendum. We argue that due to distortions in state-level representation, Southern elites adopted the discretionary Referendum as a mechanism to bypass the statewide electorate when issues divided voters along slave-dependency lines. We demonstrate the link between biases to apportionment and opposition to mandatory Referendums using a novel data set of roll calls from various Southern state conventions, including during the secession crisis of 1861.
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direct democracy constitutional reform and political inequality in post colonial america
Social Science Research Network, 2019Co-Authors: Mario Chacon, Jeffrey L JensenAbstract:The ratification of constitutional changes via Referendum is an important mechanism for constraining the influence of elites, particularly when representative institutions are captured. While this electoral device is commonly employed cross-nationally, its use is far from universal. We investigate the uneven adoption of mandatory Referendums by examining the divergence between Northern and Southern U.S. states in the post-independence period. We first explore why states in both regions adopted constitutional conventions as the primary mechanism for making revisions to fundamental law, but why only Northern states adopted the additional requirement of ratifying via Referendum. We argue that due to distortions in state-level representation, Southern elites adopted the discretionary Referendum as a mechanism to bypass the statewide electorate when issues divide voters along slave-dependency lines. We demonstrate the link between biases to apportionment and opposition to mandatory Referendums using a novel dataset of roll calls from various Southern state conventions in the 19th century, including the secession conventions of 1860-61.
Alexander Boniface Makulilo - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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beyond polarity in zanzibar the silent Referendum and the government of national unity
Journal of Contemporary African Studies, 2012Co-Authors: Mohammed Bakari, Alexander Boniface MakuliloAbstract:Abstract On 31 July 2010 the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar held a Referendum to decide on the government of national unity so as to end the impasse between the two main political camps, each dominating one of the two islands of Unguja and Pemba. The outcome of the Referendum was that the majority of Zanzibaris voted in favour of the government of national unity. This article revisits how the Referendum was carried out in terms of observing the basic principles of a democratic Referendum and whether the Referendum would be a panacea for the polarisation between the two islands. The main argument held here is that the Referendum fell short of observing some of the basic principles of a democratic Referendum since it systematically suppressed the voices of those who opted for a ‘No’ vote. Besides this, the government of national unity created after the Referendum was in essence the unity of the two major political parties, namely the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) and the Civic United Front (CUF). Relatedl...
Maria Giannacopoulos - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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sovereign debt crises Referendums and the changing face of colonial power
Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, 2017Co-Authors: Maria GiannacopoulosAbstract:AbstractWhile it is poorly performing economies like Greece that have become synonymous with sovereign debt crises in recent times, other more deeply indebted economies remain exempt from such representations. This paper builds on an argument made elsewhere that sovereign debt crises are implicated in the expansion of colonial power through austerity, in both their overt and covert manifestations. While the 2015 Greek Referendum in a climate of austerity attempted to cover over the imperializing will of the European Union through the Referendum device, in Australia the Referendum campaign seeking ‘recognition’ of Aboriginal people in the Constitution effaces the foundational debts of dispossession that structure both economy and sovereignty. While the Referendums in both crises are invoked to resolve different legal, economic and cultural issues, they are indissociably connected in that they operate to legitimize the expansion of global colonial power. Referendums more generally are becoming increasingly ...
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sovereign debt crises Referendums and the changing face of colonial power
Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, 2017Co-Authors: Maria GiannacopoulosAbstract:AbstractWhile it is poorly performing economies like Greece that have become synonymous with sovereign debt crises in recent times, other more deeply indebted economies remain exempt from such representations. This paper builds on an argument made elsewhere that sovereign debt crises are implicated in the expansion of colonial power through austerity, in both their overt and covert manifestations. While the 2015 Greek Referendum in a climate of austerity attempted to cover over the imperializing will of the European Union through the Referendum device, in Australia the Referendum campaign seeking ‘recognition’ of Aboriginal people in the Constitution effaces the foundational debts of dispossession that structure both economy and sovereignty. While the Referendums in both crises are invoked to resolve different legal, economic and cultural issues, they are indissociably connected in that they operate to legitimize the expansion of global colonial power. Referendums more generally are becoming increasingly ...
Mario Chacon - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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direct democracy constitutional reform and political inequality in post colonial america
Studies in American Political Development, 2020Co-Authors: Mario Chacon, Jeffrey L JensenAbstract:The ratification of constitutional changes via Referendum is an important mechanism for constraining the influence of elites, particularly when representative institutions are captured. While this electoral device is commonly employed cross-nationally, its use is far from universal. We investigate the uneven adoption of mandatory Referendums by examining the divergence between Northern and Southern U.S. states in the post-independence period. We first explore why states in both regions adopted constitutional conventions as the primary mechanism for making revisions to fundamental law, but why only Northern states adopted the additional requirement of ratifying via Referendum. We argue that due to distortions in state-level representation, Southern elites adopted the discretionary Referendum as a mechanism to bypass the statewide electorate when issues divided voters along slave-dependency lines. We demonstrate the link between biases to apportionment and opposition to mandatory Referendums using a novel data set of roll calls from various Southern state conventions, including during the secession crisis of 1861.
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direct democracy constitutional reform and political inequality in post colonial america
Social Science Research Network, 2019Co-Authors: Mario Chacon, Jeffrey L JensenAbstract:The ratification of constitutional changes via Referendum is an important mechanism for constraining the influence of elites, particularly when representative institutions are captured. While this electoral device is commonly employed cross-nationally, its use is far from universal. We investigate the uneven adoption of mandatory Referendums by examining the divergence between Northern and Southern U.S. states in the post-independence period. We first explore why states in both regions adopted constitutional conventions as the primary mechanism for making revisions to fundamental law, but why only Northern states adopted the additional requirement of ratifying via Referendum. We argue that due to distortions in state-level representation, Southern elites adopted the discretionary Referendum as a mechanism to bypass the statewide electorate when issues divide voters along slave-dependency lines. We demonstrate the link between biases to apportionment and opposition to mandatory Referendums using a novel dataset of roll calls from various Southern state conventions in the 19th century, including the secession conventions of 1860-61.
Mohammed Bakari - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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beyond polarity in zanzibar the silent Referendum and the government of national unity
Journal of Contemporary African Studies, 2012Co-Authors: Mohammed Bakari, Alexander Boniface MakuliloAbstract:Abstract On 31 July 2010 the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar held a Referendum to decide on the government of national unity so as to end the impasse between the two main political camps, each dominating one of the two islands of Unguja and Pemba. The outcome of the Referendum was that the majority of Zanzibaris voted in favour of the government of national unity. This article revisits how the Referendum was carried out in terms of observing the basic principles of a democratic Referendum and whether the Referendum would be a panacea for the polarisation between the two islands. The main argument held here is that the Referendum fell short of observing some of the basic principles of a democratic Referendum since it systematically suppressed the voices of those who opted for a ‘No’ vote. Besides this, the government of national unity created after the Referendum was in essence the unity of the two major political parties, namely the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) and the Civic United Front (CUF). Relatedl...
