Download or read book Constitutional Mythologies written by Alain Marciano and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2011-08-02 with total page 179 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our societies obviously rest on common beliefs. These "myths" are tools that help us to develop and build common identities; they form the structure around which societies function. This does not imply that these beliefs are “true,” in the sense that they would be supported by empirical facts. In social matters, myths have undoubtedly important functions to play even if no empirical facts support them. On the other hand, and precisely because they are not discussed, myths may be problematic: they may create illusions, conserve structures that are inefficient and unable to improve the situation of citizens. This is particularly true with constitutions. Constitutions are very important for societies: a constitution is a document — even in societies based on “unwritten” constitutions — which binds citizens together, creating unity among them, and which forms the framework within which our activities take place. As Nobel Prize laureate James Buchanan used to say: constitutions contain the rules of the social game we play in our everyday life. However, constitutions are not frequently debated by citizens. This is why we end up with common beliefs about these constitutions: they are above our heads, around us. We take them, their role, function, and nature as given. The purpose of this volume to investigate and challenge common constitutional myths. Featuring contributions from prominent economists, political scientists, and legal scholars, the chapters in this volume address such myths as “constitutions are binding social contracts,” “constitutions are economic documents” and “constitutions are legal documents.” Illustrating their analyses with historical and contemporary examples from the United States, Canada, and Europe, the authors build a multi-layered approach to understanding constitutions and their implications for social and political influence.
Download or read book Constitutional Myths written by Ray Raphael and published by The New Press. This book was released on 2013 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With the entry of the Tea Party onto the political scene, the U.S. Constitution has become a political battleground, with liberals and conservatives trading fire over its meaning and intent. Historian Raphael was struck by how much "both sides" got wrong, and he sorts out truth from fiction.
Download or read book 25 Myths of the United States Constitution written by Douglas V. Gibbs and published by . This book was released on 2014-01-26 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the United States the Law of the Land is the U.S. Constitution. The Originalist viewpoint of the document is one that holds to its meaning at the time it was created. Over time, however, the original intent has been hijacked, twisted, and subverted by statist politicians, judges using case law as the basis for Constitutional Law, a progressive education system, and a media that is complicit in a real effort to render the Constitution meaningless in its original form. In a unique style of defense of originalism, Douglas V. Gibbs examines the myths that have emerged as a result of a leftist onslaught against this nation as it was founded, maintaining that the text of the Constitution should be adhered to in its original intent. The enforcers, and final arbiters, of the Constitution, however, is not the Supreme Court, but We The People.The author addresses the most common myths in a clear and instructive manner, while recognizing and responding to any possible objections.Does all federal law trump all State law? Are the three branches of government supposed to be co-equal? Can the courts legislate from the bench? How about executive orders? What was the true intent behind the Commerce Clause, and the General Welfare Clause? Is the separation of church and state in the Constitution? Where do our rights come from? Is the United States a democracy? What is the role of government regarding issues like social justice? What is the true definition of Natural Born Citizen? Is the Constitution a living document? What are implied powers, and are they constitutional? Does the President have to ask Congress before he can wage war? What would the founders think about Income Tax, and the Internal Revenue Service? Are the courts authorized to interpret the Constitution in the way they do?25 Myths of the United States Constitution is an important contribution to literature on originalism, and the perfect book for the average person to read to begin their journey in learning the Constitution.After reading this book, you will look at the Law of the Land, and the world of politics, with a renewed sense of confidence. Being informed, after all, is a large part of the duty we have as Americans in regards to our involvement as an effective electorate. And, being informed makes you less likely to be fooled by the crafty politiciansThe Constitution is only ink and paper if we don't defend it.
Download or read book Constitutional Myths and Constitutional Illusions About Heroic Past and Better Future written by Игорь Барциц and published by Litres. This book was released on 2019-07-10 with total page 62 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This working paper provides insight into the essence, content and destiny of constitutional myths and illusions as «load-bearing elements» of constitutional order, government system and political regime. Special attention is paid to the analysis of individual constitutional myths and illusions, such as the doctrine of the sovereignty of the people, concept of social contract, nation-wide referendum, values of separation of powers, open government, etc., as well as examples of their embodiment in the Constitutions of Russia, China, the USA, France, Venezuela, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Ukraine, etc.
Download or read book Tales of the Constituent Moment written by Eren Paydaş and published by . This book was released on 2023 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Mythology of American Politics written by John T. Bookman and published by Potomac Books, Inc.. This book was released on 2008 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this provocative set of essays, John Bookman delves beneath the transitory issues of the day to identify and respond to the fundamental, perennial questions of American politics. The questions concern the myths that shape the thinking of so many Americans about politics. These myths are the popular narratives that impart meaning to the American experience and define for many what it is to be an American. For the first time, readers have under one cover a sober, informed examination of these myths. Among the myths subjected to critical examination are the following: 1. The Framers of the Constitution were fundamentalist Christians. Americans at the time of the founding constituted a Christian nation. 2. The Framers were disinterested demigods who wrote a constitution for the ages. 3. James Madison intended separation of powers and checks and balances to protect the general citizenry against government. 4. Constitutional constraints on democratic majorities are necessary to prevent tyranny of the majority. 5. The United States is exceptional. It is more populist, egalitarian, religious, patriotic, and prosperous than other nations. 6. Americans are a chosen people marked out by God or history to carry out a world-historical mission. 7. The unfettered market uses resources more efficiently, better promotes growth, and confers more freedom than other ways of organizing the production and distribution of goods and services. In his examination of these myths, Bookman does not slight argument in favor of description and explanation. He does not neglect description and explanation, but he enlists them in the service of arguments, and those arguments reach conclusions sure to be controversial.
Download or read book Wrong and Dangerous written by Garrett Epps and published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. This book was released on 2012-09-16 with total page 229 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The primary purpose of the United States Constitution is to limit Congress. There is no separation of church and state. The Second Amendment allows citizens to threaten the government. These are just a few of the myths about our constitution peddled by the Far Right—a toxic coalition of Fox News talking heads, radio hosts, angry “patriot” groups, and power-hungry Tea Party politicians. Well-funded, loud, and unscrupulous, they are trying to do to America’s founding document what they have done to global warming and evolution—wipe out the facts and substitute partisan myth. In the process, they seek to cripple the right of We the People to govern ourselves. In Wrong and Dangerous, legal scholar Garrett Epps provides the tools needed to fight back against the flood of constitutional nonsense. In terms every citizen can understand, he tackles ten of the most prevalent myths, providing a clear grasp of the Constitution and the government it established.
Download or read book Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome written by E. M. Berens and published by e-artnow. This book was released on 2021-08-02 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome " is a comprehensive mythology collection, presenting all the major and minor gods of Rome and Greece, with descriptions of festivals and retellings of major mythological stories. The author, thoroughly details each Greek and Roman god, goddess, hero, demi-god and creature and gives the reader a clear and succinct idea of the religious beliefs of the ancients. An exceptional book for those interested in Greek or Roman mythology.
Download or read book Constitutional Semiotics written by Martin Belov and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2022-06-30 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers an outline of the foundations of a theory of constitutional semiotics. It provides a systematic account of the concept of constitutional semiotics and its role in the representation and signification of meaning in constitution, constitutional law, and constitutionalism. The book explores the constitutional signification of meaning that is stretched between rational entrenchment and constitutional imagination. It provides a critical assessment of the rationalist entrapment of constitutional modernity and justifies the need to turn to 'shadow constitutionalisms': textual, symbolic-imaginary and visual constitutionalism. The book puts forward innovative incentives for constitutional analysis based on constitutional semiotics as a paradigm for representation of meaning in rational, textual, symbolic-imaginary and visual constitutionalism. The book focuses on the textual, imaginative, and visual discourse of constitutionalism, which is built upon collective constitutional imaginaries and on the peculiar normativity of constitutional geometry and constitutional mythology as borderline phenomena entrenched in rational, textual, symbolic-imaginary and visual constitutionalism. The book analyses concepts such as: constitutional text and texture, authoritative constitutional narratives and authoritative constitutional narrators, constitutional semiotic community, constitutional utopia, constitutional taboo, normative ideology and normative ideas, constitutional myth and mythology, constitutional symbolism, constitutional code and constitutional geometric form. It explores the textual entrenchment of constitutionalism and its repercussions for representation and signification of meaning.
Download or read book The Myth of American Religious Freedom written by David Sehat and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2011-01-14 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the battles over religion and politics in America, both liberals and conservatives often appeal to history. Liberals claim that the Founders separated church and state. But for much of American history, David Sehat writes, Protestant Christianity was intimately intertwined with the state. Yet the past was not the Christian utopia that conservatives imagine either. Instead, a Protestant moral establishment prevailed, using government power to punish free thinkers and religious dissidents. In The Myth of American Religious Freedom, Sehat provides an eye-opening history of religion in public life, overturning our most cherished myths. Originally, the First Amendment applied only to the federal government, which had limited authority. The Protestant moral establishment ruled on the state level. Using moral laws to uphold religious power, religious partisans enforced a moral and religious orthodoxy against Catholics, Jews, Mormons, agnostics, and others. Not until 1940 did the U.S. Supreme Court extend the First Amendment to the states. As the Supreme Court began to dismantle the connections between religion and government, Sehat argues, religious conservatives mobilized to maintain their power and began the culture wars of the last fifty years. To trace the rise and fall of this Protestant establishment, Sehat focuses on a series of dissenters--abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton, socialist Eugene V. Debs, and many others. Shattering myths held by both the left and right, David Sehat forces us to rethink some of our most deeply held beliefs. By showing the bad history used on both sides, he denies partisans a safe refuge with the Founders.
Download or read book Constitutional Semiotics written by Martin Belov and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2022-06-30 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers an outline of the foundations of a theory of constitutional semiotics. It provides a systematic account of the concept of constitutional semiotics and its role in the representation and signification of meaning in constitution, constitutional law, and constitutionalism. The book explores the constitutional signification of meaning that is stretched between rational entrenchment and constitutional imagination. It provides a critical assessment of the rationalist entrapment of constitutional modernity and justifies the need to turn to 'shadow constitutionalisms': textual, symbolic-imaginary and visual constitutionalism. The book puts forward innovative incentives for constitutional analysis based on constitutional semiotics as a paradigm for representation of meaning in rational, textual, symbolic-imaginary and visual constitutionalism. The book focuses on the textual, imaginative, and visual discourse of constitutionalism, which is built upon collective constitutional imaginaries and on the peculiar normativity of constitutional geometry and constitutional mythology as borderline phenomena entrenched in rational, textual, symbolic-imaginary and visual constitutionalism. The book analyses concepts such as: constitutional text and texture, authoritative constitutional narratives and authoritative constitutional narrators, constitutional semiotic community, constitutional utopia, constitutional taboo, normative ideology and normative ideas, constitutional myth and mythology, constitutional symbolism, constitutional code and constitutional geometric form. It explores the textual entrenchment of constitutionalism and its repercussions for representation and signification of meaning.
Download or read book Founding Myths written by Ray Raphael and published by New Press, The. This book was released on 2014-07-04 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published ten years ago, award-winning historian Ray Raphael’s Founding Myths has since established itself as a landmark of historical myth-busting. With the author’s trademark wit and flair, Founding Myths exposes the errors and inventions in America’s most cherished tales, from Paul Revere’s famous ride to Patrick Henry’s “Liberty or Death” speech. For the seventy thousand readers who have been captivated by Raphael’s eye-opening accounts, history has never been the same. In this revised tenth-anniversary edition, Raphael revisits the original myths and explores their further evolution over the past decade, uncovering new stories and peeling back additional layers of misinformation. This new edition also examines the highly politicized debates over America’s past, as well as how school textbooks and popular histories often reinforce rather than correct historical mistakes. A book that “explores the truth behind the stories of the making of our nation” (National Public Radio), this revised edition of Founding Myths will be a welcome resource for anyone seeking to separate historical fact from fiction.
Download or read book The Harp and the Constitution written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2015-11-16 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ‘Celtic’ and ‘Gothic’: both words refer today to both ancient tribes and modern styles. ‘Celtic’ is associated with harp music, native knitwear, and spirituality; ‘Gothic’ with medieval cathedrals, rock bands, and horror fiction. The eleven essays collected together here chart some of the curious and unexpected ways in which the Celts and the Goths were appropriated and reinvented in Britain and other European countries through the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries – becoming not just mythologised races, but lending their names to abstract principles and entire value systems. Contributed by experts in literature, archaeology, history, and Celtic studies, the essays range from broad surveys to specific case-studies, and together demonstrate the complicated interplay that has always existed between ‘Celticism’ and ‘Gothicism’. Contributors are: John Collis, Robert DeMaria, Jr., Tom Duggett, Tim Fulford, Nick Groom, Amy Hale, Ronald Hutton, Joep Leerssen, Dafydd Moore, Joanne Parker, Juan Miguel Zarandona.
Download or read book The Constitutional Mythology of Western Water Law written by Christine A. Klein and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A mural in the capitol of Denver reads "Here is a land is written with water." Water is sacred in the western United States, and this respect extends to the western legal system for water allocation, known as the prior appropriation doctrine. Under this doctrine, non-wasteful, beneficial uses of water are constitutionally protected on the basis of "first in time, first in right." This is a doctrine born of necessity. Courts have elevated the diversion element of the prior appropriation doctrine to constitutional status, creating the constitutional myth that all water uses must involve diversion in order to receive protection. However, the state courts have abandoned their rhetoric by allowing non-diversionary uses such as environmental preservation and recreation, but nonetheless the mythology persists. This article argues that diversion has wrongfully replaced beneficial use as the central constitutional requirement of a water right, and suggests ways that this process may be reversed. In doing so, the article examines the core concepts of the prior appropriation doctrine to reveal the historical underpinnings of the constitutional myth, and also addresses diversion requirement of the myth. Moreover, it considers the clash between modern environmentalism and traditional concepts of water use, suggesting that the demise of the mythology has begun. Finally, this article evaluates the legacy of the myth, including the continued judicial discomfort with the diversion requirement which leads to confusing legal precedent and poorly-reasoned decisions.
Download or read book Political Myth written by Christopher Flood and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-12-02 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First Published in 2002. Myth theorists characterize myths as stories that possess the status of sacred truth within one or more social groups. Flood discusses how political myth is an ideologically marked narrative that purports to give a true account of a set of past, present, or predicted political events, widely accepted as valid in its essentials. Among the topics explored are: the historical line of political myth in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Western political discourse; the characteristics of political myths and the forms they take in political life and the ends they serve; and the features of political ideologies that are most useful for understanding the nature of political myth.
Download or read book Mythologies of State and Monopoly Power written by Michael Tigar and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2018-09-24 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Mythologies,” writes veteran human rights lawyer Michael Tigar, “are structures of words and images that portray people, institutions, and events in ways that mask an underlying reality.” For instance, the “Justice Department” appears, by its very nature and practice, to appropriate “justice” as the exclusive property of the federal government. In his brilliantly acerbic collection of essays, Tigar reveals, deconstructs, and eviscerates mythologies surrounding the U.S. criminal justice system, racism, free expression, workers’ rights, and international human rights. Lawyers confront mythologies in the context of their profession. But the struggle for human liberation makes mythology-busting the business of all of us. The rights we have learned to demand are not only trivialized in our current system of social relations; they are, in fact, antithetical to that system. With wit and eloquence, Michael Tigar draws on legal cases, philosophy, literature, and fifty-years’ experience as an attorney, activist, and teacher to bust the mythologies and to argue for real change.
Download or read book Myth written by Robert Alan Segal and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2015 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Very Short Introduction explores different approaches to myth from several disciplines, including science, religion, philosophy, literature, and psychology. In this new edition, Robert Segal considers both the future study of myth as well as the impact of areas such as cognitive science and the latest approaches to narrative theory.
