: Williams Kuttikadan
: Toward a Model of Constitutions How Human Rights, Lincoln's Address, and Berlin's Liberties Explain Democracies
: Houndstooth Press
: 9781544530406
: 1
: CHF 9.50
:
: Sonstiges
: English
: 288
: kein Kopierschutz
: PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet
: ePUB
Have you ever wanted a clear, visual guide to constitutions? Something so simple you could use it to explain essential constitutional structure to all your friends in under a minute? Toward a Model of Constitutions lays out the basic principles of democratic constitutions, from the separation of powers to the rule of law. Through this unique analytical framework of human rights, you'll understand constitutional logic better than the average lawyer, with figures and tables throughout the book to provide an accessible, visual perspective. What should our minimum expectations be while paying taxes? What should our minimum expectations be of democratic societies? Can democracies go bad? Obviously, if democracies are to improve, we must take political control back from big money. How do we do that? How do we ensure democracies are controlled by the people and not by big business? Toward a Model of Constitutions addresses all these questions and more.
1. 
A Constitutional Structure

“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”

—Nelson Mandela

This work attempts to model a Constitutional structure by approaching it as an exercise for protecting and increasing individual liberty. To achieve that aim, we have to bring together several areas that are usually not dealt with together. These include the likes of logic, ethics, human rights, Constitutions, organizational boards, and protection of private space. But the traditional area most closely related to this work is that of human rights.

The main idea is to develop an analytical framework that can increase the efficacy of existing human rights, while remaining within the paradigm of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) from 1948.1 To be more specific, the framework attempts to improve human rights in people’s public spaces, while staying outside of people’s private spaces.2

1. Constitutional Structure


This model’s structure is explained in three parts. The first part will identify the starting root element. The second part will look at eight complementary elements that are added sequentially to build up the model.3 The third part examines the final ninth element, which must be complementary to the whole model that has been built up to that point.

A. Starting Up: Life/Liberty as the Root Element


In the first part of the model, the root element of the human social system is represented by human life itself. After all, it cannot be subdivided further, nor can it be ignored in anyway as a redundant element. Life is rather well modeled by Article 1 of UDHR, which states,“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” This suggests the root element represented by “life” stands for both freedom and equal dignity and rights.

Indeed, as far as this model is concerned, the two factors ofliberty andequal dignity and rights are inherently present within it. In fact, removing either of these factors will completely demolish the model.

Having said that, it is arguable that liberty is more fundamental to the model since it is more directly present within the root element of life. However, from a social perspective, liberty cannot be guaranteed, unless it is accepted that everyone has equal dignity and rights. Thus, the more nuanced view is that bothfreedom andequal dignity and rights are equally necessary, at least if we are to have a viable Constitutional model.

B. Building Up: The Pursuit of Complementary Rights


The second part of the model is composed of complementary elements added to the root element. Although these elements cannot claim to improve