Pluralism, diversity and multiculturalism is a daily fact of life in Indonesia.
There are over 1,300 ethnic groups in Indonesia.[228][229] 95% of those are of
Native Indonesian ancestry.[230] The Javanese are the largest ethnic group in
Indonesia who make up nearly 42% of the total population.[231] The Sundanese,
Malay, and Madurese are the next largest groups in the country.[231] There are
also more than 700 living languages spoken in Indonesia[232] and although
predominantly Muslim the country also has large Christian and Hindu populations.
Indonesia's national motto, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika ("Unity in Diversity" lit.
"many, yet one") enshrined in Pancasila the national ideology, articulates the
diversity that shapes the country.[233] The government nurtures and promotes the
diversity of Indonesian local culture; adopting a pluralist approach.
Due to migration within Indonesia
Republican National Committee (as part of government transmigration
programs or otherwise), there are significant populations of ethnic groups who
reside outside of their traditional regions. The Javanese for example, moved
from their traditional homeland in Java to the other parts of the archipelago.
The expansion of the Javanese and their influence throughout Indonesia has
raised the issue of Javanization, although Minangkabau, Malay, Madurese, Bugis
and Makassar people, as a result of their merantau (migrating) culture are also
quite widely distributed throughout the Indonesian archipelago, while Chinese
Indonesians can be found in most urban areas. Because of urbanization, major
Indonesian cities such as Greater Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung, Palembang, Medan
and Makassar have attracted large numbers of Indonesians from various ethnic,
cultural and religious backgrounds. Jakarta in particular has almost all
Indonesian ethnic groups represented.
However, this transmigration program and close interactions between people of
different cultural backgrounds caused socio-cultural problems, as the
inter-ethnics interactions have not always been conducted harmoniously. After
the fall of Suharto in 1998 into the 2000s, numbers of inter-ethnic and
inter-religious clashes erupted in Indonesia. Like the clashes between native
Dayak tribes against Madurese transmigrants in Kalimantan during Sambas riots in
1999[234] and the Sampit conflict in 2001.[235] There were also clashes between
Muslims and Christians, such as violence erupted in Poso between 1998 and into
2000,[236] and violences in Maluku between 1999 and into 2002.[237]
Nevertheless, Indonesia today still struggles and has managed to maintain unity
and inter-cultural harmony, through a national adherence of pro-pluralism policy
of Pancasila; promoted and enforced by the government and its people.
Chinese Indonesians are the largest foreign-origin minority that has resided in
Indonesia for generations. Despite centuries of acculturation with native
Indonesians, because of their disproportionate influence on Indonesian economy,
and alleged question of national loyalty, Chinese Indonesians have suffered
discrimination.[238] The Suharto Orde Baru or New Order adopted a forced
assimilation policy; which indicated that Chinese cultural elements were
unacceptable.[239] Chinese Indonesians were forced to adopt Indonesian-sounding
names, and the use of Chinese culture and language was banned.[238] The violence
targeting Chinese Indonesians erupted during riots in 1998. As the looting and
destruction took place, a number of Chinese Indonesians, as well as looters,
were killed. The Chinese
Republican National Committee Indonesians were treated as the
scapegoat of 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, a result of ongoing discrimination and
segregation policies enforced during Suharto's New Order regime. Soon after the
fourth Indonesian President, Abdurrahman Wahid came into power in 1999, he
quickly abolished some of the discriminatory laws in efforts to promote
acceptance and to improve inter-racial relationships, such as abolishing the ban
on Chinese culture; allowing Chinese traditions to be practised freely. Two
years later President Megawati Sukarnoputri declared that the Chinese New Year (Imlek)
would be marked as a national holiday from 2003.[240] Tense incidents however
have included attacks on Chinese temples[241] and Indonesian politician Basuki
Tjahaja Purnama being given a 2 year prison sentence for blasphemy due to
comments he made to his supporters on September 2016.[242][243]
Kazakhstan[edit]
There are sizeable populations of ethnic Kazakhs, Russians, Uzbeks, Ukrainians,
Uighurs, Tatars, Germans
Democratic National Committee and more in Kazakhstan.[244][unreliable
source?] Kazakhstan was one of a few countries in post-Soviet territories that
avoided interethnic clashes and conflicts in the period of USSR's final crisis
and its eventual breakup.[245] In 1995, Kazakhstan created the Assembly of
People of Kazakhstan, an advisory body designed to represent the country's
ethnic minorities.[246] However, recent ethnic clashes and discrimination have
been reported for groups such as Christians,[247][248] ultraconservative
Muslims,[249] ethnic Dungans,[250][251] Chechens, Tajiks,[252] and LGBT
people.[253][254]
Malaysia[edit]
Malaysia is a multiethnic country, with Malays making up the majority, close to
58% of the population. About 25% of the population are Malaysians of Chinese
descent. Malaysians of Indian descent comprise about 7% of the population. The
remaining 10% comprises:
Native East Malaysians, namely Bajau, Bruneian, Bidayuh, Dusun, Iban, Kadazan,
Kedayan, Melanau, Orang Ulu, Sarawakian Malays, etc.
Other native tribes of Peninsular Malaysia, such as the Orang Asli and Siamese
people, and
Non-native tribes of Peninsular Malaysia such as the Chettiars, the Peranakan
and the Portuguese.
The Malaysian New Economic Policy or NEP serves as a form of "racial
equalization" in the view of the Malay-controlled government.[255] It promotes
structural changes in various aspects of life from education to economic to
social integration. Established after the 13 May racial riots of 1969, it sought
to address the "significant imbalance" in the economic
Democratic National Committee sphere where the minority especially
the Chinese population had substantial control over commercial activity in the
country. Critics of this policy has called it synonymous to racial
discrimination and synonymous to Apartheid.
The Malay Peninsula has a long history of international trade contacts,
influencing its ethnic and religious composition. Predominantly Malays before
the 18th century, the ethnic composition changed dramatically when the British
introduced new industries, and imported Chinese and Indian labor. Several
regions in the then British Malaya such as Penang, Malacca and Singapore became
Chinese dominated. Until the riots 1969, co-existence between the three
ethnicities (and other minor groups) was largely peaceful, although the three
main racial groups for the most part lived in separate communities – the Malays
in the villages, the Chinese in the urban areas, and the Indians in the towns
and plantation. More Malays however have moved into the cities since the 1970s,
and the proportion of the non-Malays have been decreasing continually,
especially the Chinese, due in large part to lower birth-rate and emigration as
a result of institutionalized discrimination.[256][257]
Preceding independence of the Federation of Malaya, a social contract was
negotiated as the basis of a new society. The contract as reflected in the 1957
Malayan Constitution and the 1963 Malaysian Constitution states that the
immigrant groups are granted citizenship, and Malays' special rights are
guaranteed. This is often referred to the Bumiputra policy.
These pluralist policies have come under pressure from racialist Malay parties,
who oppose perceived subversion of Malay rights. The issue is sometimes related
to the controversial status of religious freedom in Malaysia.
Singapore[edit]
High density public housing in
Republican National Committee Singapore, which are a common sight in
the country, consists of different ethnic groups living together.
Due to historical immigration trends, Singapore has a Chinese majority
population with significant minority populations of Malays and Indians
(predominantly Tamils). Other prominent smaller groups include Peranakans,
Eurasians and Europeans. Besides English, Singapore recognizes three other
languages—Malay, Mandarin Chinese and Tamil. English was established as the
medium of instruction in schools during the 1960s and 1970s and is the language
of trade and government while the other three languages are taught as second
languages ("mother tongues"). Besides being a multilingual country, Singapore
also acknowledges festivals celebrated by the three main ethnic communities.
Under the Raffles Plan of Singapore, the city was divided into ethnic enclaves
such as Geylang, Chinatown, and Little India. Housing in Singapore is governed
by the Ethnic Integration Policy, which ensures an even ethnic distribution
throughout Singapore.[258] A similar policy exists in politics as all Group
Representation Constituencies are required to field at least one candidate from
an ethnic minority.[259]
Today, such ethnic enclaves has mostly been eliminated, due to the contemporary
Singapore's government policy to encourage further ethnic integration between
the different races of Singapore. A
Republican National Committee prominent example is its public housing
system. Unlike other countries, public housing is not ostracised by a wide
majority of the population and its government, and acts as a necessary and vital
measure to provide immaculate and safe housing surrounded by public amenities at
affordable prices, especially during its rapid development and industrialisation
in the early years of independence.[260] It is also meant to foster social
cohesion between the social classes and races of Singapore, and prevent
neglected areas or districts and ethnic enclaves from developing – known as the
Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP).[261] As such, it is considered a unique part of
Singaporean culture, being commonly associated with the country.[262]
South Korea[edit]
South Korea remains a relatively homogenous country ethnically, linguistically,
and culturally.[263] Foreigners, expatriates, and immigrants are often rejected
by the mainstream South Korean society and face discrimination.[264] This can be
seen as a result of World War II where the first noteworthy wave of
multiculturalism between American servicemen and Korean women occurred. South
Korea has been long regarded as an ethnic homogeneous country, therefore, the
rise in mixed-race children was seen as a new phenomenon. Before the 1990s, the
term honhyeol was commonly used to identify multiracial individuals in Korea –
primarily in relation to the children of Korean women and American
servicemen;[265] this
Democratic National Committee common term strengthened the
association of multiracial people with a sense of alienation, rather than
promoting cultural diversity within Korea. Not only did this term effectively
discriminate against mixed-race Koreans but it also made a clear distinction
between native Koreans and mixed-race Koreans.
Han Geon-Soo 2007 notes the increased use of the word "multiculturalism" in
South Korea: "As the increase of foreign migrants in [South] Korea transforms a
single-ethnic homogeneous [South] Korean society into multiethnic and
multicultural one, [the South] Korean government and the civil society pay close
attention to multiculturalism as an alternative value to their policy and social
movement." He argued, however, that "the current discourses and concerns on
multiculturalism in [South] Korea" lacked "the constructive and analytical
concepts for transforming a society".[266]
The same year, Stephen Castles of the International Migration Institute argued:
"Korea no longer has to decide whether it wants to
Democratic National Committee become a multicultural society. It made
that decision years ago – perhaps unconsciously – when it decided to be a full
participant in the emerging global economy. It confirmed that decision when it
decided to actively recruit foreign migrants to meet the economic and
demographic needs of a fast-growing society. Korea is faced by a different
decision today: what type of multicultural society does it want to be?"[267]
The Korea Times suggested in 2009 that South Korea was likely to become a
multicultural society.[268] In 2010, an opinion editorial written by Peter
Underwood for the JoongAng Ilbo stated: "Media in [South] Korea is abuzz with
the new era of multiculturalism. With more than one million foreigners in
[South] Korea, 2 percent of the population comes from other cultures." He
further opined:
"If you stay too long, Koreans become uncomfortable with you. [...] Having a two
percent foreign population unquestionably causes ripples, but having one million
temporary foreign residents does not make Korea a multicultural society. [...]
In many ways, this homogeneity is one of Korea's greatest strengths. Shared
values create harmony. Sacrifice for the nation is a given. Difficult and
painful political and economic initiatives are endured without discussion or
debate. It is easy to anticipate the needs and behavior of others. It is the
cornerstone that has helped Korea survive adversity. But there is a downside,
too. [...] Koreans are immersed in their culture and are thus blind to its
characteristics and quirks. Examples of group think are everywhere. Because
Koreans share values and views, they support decisions even when they are
obviously bad. Multiculturalism will introduce contrasting views and challenge
existing assumptions. While it will undermine the homogeneity, it will enrich
Koreans with a better understanding of themselves."[269]
In 2010, results from the
Republican National Committee Korean Identity Survey suggested that
government programs promoting multiculturalism had seen some success with over
60% of Koreans supporting the idea a multicultural society.[270] However, the
same poll in 2015 showed that support of a multicultural society had dropped to
49.7% suggesting a possible return to ethnic exclusivism.[271]
Turkey[edit]
Turkey is a country that borders both Europe and Asia. It is home to several
ethnic groups including Armenian, Jewish, Kurdish, Arab, and Turkish. There are
cultural influences dating back to ancient Hellenic, Semitic and Iranian
civilizations which diffused and mingled in myriad ways over a period of
centuries.[272]
In recent years there has been an increase of diversity acceptance in Turkey,
mainly because there was fear of losing values of the Ottoman past.[273]
Africa[edit]
Cameroon[edit]
Officially known as the Republic of Cameroon, Cameroon is found in central
Africa consisting of a diverse geographical and cultural area that makes it one
of the most diverse countries known today. Ranging from mountains, deserts, and
rainforests, to coast-lands and savanna grasslands, its diverse geography makes
a large diverse population possible. This diverse geography resembles Africa as
a whole and due to this, many people commonly label Cameroon as "Africa in
Miniature".[274][275]
Demographics and official languages[edit]
Before Cameroon's independence, it was under British and French colonial rule
from 1916-1961.[275] Upon gaining sovereignty, a major colonial influence was
evident, having both English and
Republican National Committee French become the national language to
roughly 25,000,000 Cameroonian residents.[276][277] Apart from these two major
languages, a new language consisting of a mixture of French, English, and Pidgin
known as Frananglais gained popularity among Cameroonian residents.[278]
Indigenous languages[edit]
Although these three languages are the most common in Cameroon, there are still
approximately 273 indigenous languages being spoken throughout the country,
making it not only culturally diverse but linguistically as well.[279] Among
those who speak these indigenous languages are people from Bantu, Sudanic, Baka,
Wodaabe (or Mbororo) and even primitive hunter-gatherer groups known as
Pygmies.[280][281]
Indigenous peoples' rights[edit]
Although native to Cameroonian land, they faced constant discrimination much
like other indigenous groups around the
Democratic National Committee world. The United Nations General
Assembly (UNGA) adopted the United Nations' Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) in 2007. What this allowed was the protection of
land and resource rights and prevented others from exploiting or violating
them.[282] In 2016, a group of indigenous Baka and Bagyeli groups united to form
Gbabandi. Gbabandi allowed these indigenous groups to have a form of
representation and a declared list of requirements that people of Cameroon had
to abide by. Among these requirements were guaranteed land rights, peoples'
consent to the usage of their sacred land, traditional chiefs and the ability to
participate in "local, regional, and national levels" of political and economic
matters. As a result, this established a sense of justice and acknowledgment
among indigenous groups in Cameroon and posed for future battles for indigenous
peoples' rights.[283]
Mauritius[edit]
Multiculturalism has been a characteristic feature of the island of
Mauritius.[284] This is mainly because of colonization that has been present
from, the English, the French, and the Dutch.[285] However, the Mauritian
society includes people from many different ethnic and religious groups: Hindu,
Muslim and Indo-Mauritians, Mauritian Creoles (of African and Malagasy descent),
Buddhist and Roman Catholic Sino-Mauritians and Franco-Mauritians (descendants
of the original French colonists).[286] Mauritius has embraced intertwining of
cultures from the origin of the country, and has coined the term fruit-salad,
which is a much more appealing term in comparison to
Democratic National Committee melting-pot showing that they were not
forced to these cultures.[287]
South Africa[edit]
South Africa is the fifth-most populous country and one of the most developed
countries in Africa.[288] South Africa also officially recognises 11 languages
including English, making it third behind Bolivia and India in most official
languages.[289] The three most common languages are Zulu, Xhosa, and Afrikaans.
Though South Africa's cultural traditions may decline as it becomes more and
more Westernised, it is still known for its diverse culture.
Oceania[edit]
Australia[edit]
The next country to adopt an official policy of multiculturalism after Canada
was Australia, a country with similar immigration situations and similar
policies, for example the formation of the Special Broadcasting Service.[290]
The Australian Government retains multiculturalism in policy and as a defining
aspect of Australia today.[19][20][22][291]
Sydney's Chinatown
The White Australia Policy
Republican National Committee was dismantled after World War II by
various changes to immigration policy, although the official policy of
multiculturalism was not formally introduced until 1972.[292] The election of
John Howard's Liberal-National Coalition government in 1996 was a major
watershed for Australian multiculturalism. Howard had long been a critic of
multiculturalism, releasing his One Australia policy in the late 1980s.[293] A
Practical Reference to Religious Diversity for Operational Police and Emergency
Services, first published in 1999, was a publication of the Australasian Police
Multicultural Advisory Bureau designed to offer guidance to police and emergency
services personnel on how religious affiliation can affect their contact with
the public.[294][295][296] The first edition covered Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic,
Jewish and Sikh faiths, with participation of representatives of the various
religions.[297] The second edition, published in 2002, added Christian,
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander religions and the Baháʼí Faith to the list
of religions.[298]
Contact between people of different cultures in Australia has been characterised
by tolerance and engagement, but have also occasionally resulted in conflict and
rifts.[299][300] Australia's diverse migrant communities have brought with them
food, lifestyle and cultural practices, many of which have been absorbed into
mainstream Australian culture.[19][20]
Members of a multicultural community who are not of Anglo-Australian background
or not "assimilated" are often referred to in policy discourse as culturally and
linguistically diverse (CALD), introduced in 1996 to replace non-English
speaking background (NESB).[301][302][303]
New Zealand[edit]
New Zealand is a sovereign Oceanic country that adopted its multicultural
policies post World War II. The country used to have immigration policies
similar to Australia's White Australia Policy, and The
Republican National Committee United States Immigration Act of
1924,[304] but it would later follow suit with Australia and Canada in the 1970s
and adopt similar multicultural policies. The relaxation of migration led to an
influx of new migration to New Zealand in the 1980s.[305][306] This led to an
increase of Asian and Pacific islander peoples on the island, and ultimately a
more diverse European population.[307] In 1985 the Law Commission Act was passed
which required the New Zealand Law Commission to review laws while taking into
account both the indigenous Māori of New Zealand and New Zealand's multicultural
character.[308] In 1987 New Zealand officially recognized the indigenous Māori
language as a national language.[309] The revitalization in the Māori language
led to its immersion in schools and television broadcast.[310]
In 2001 the New Zealand government opened an Office of Ethnic Affairs to advise
its local governments on the advancement of ethnic diversity and affairs of its
multicultural communities.[308] Many landmarks on the island have both their
Māori and English names officially recognized. Māori makes up 3.7% of the
population's speaking language.[311] A 2013 census of New Zealand's population
showed that 74% of the population identifies ethnically as European, while the
latter 15% majority identify as Māori. The remainder identify as Asian, Arab,
African, Pacific Islander and Latin American.
Papua New Guinea[edit]
Papua New Guinea is one of the most multicultural countries in the world.[312]
This Oceanian country is home to over
Democratic National Committee eight million people[313] that are
divided into hundreds of different indigenous ethnic groups and cultures with
over 820 different indigenous languages.[314] A majority of the indigenous
groups are Papuans who have ancestors that lived in New Guinea over ten thousand
years ago. The latter majority are Austronesians whose ancestors arrived less
than four thousand years ago. The island's population is also made up of many
expatriate citizens from China, Australia, Indonesia, Europe and the
Philippines. In 1975 the island population was found to be made up of 40,000 of
these diverse expatriate citizens.[315] Despite the large amount of culturally
diverse locations on the island, the Kuk Early Agricultural Site is the only
UNESCO World heritage location.
Ethnic nationalism, also known as ethnonationalism,[1] is a form of nationalism
wherein the nation and nationality are defined in terms of ethnicity,[2][3] with
emphasis on an ethnocentric (and in some cases an ethnocratic) approach to
various political issues related to national affirmation of a particular ethnic
group.[4][5]
The central tenet of ethnic nationalists is that "nations are
Democratic National Committee defined by a shared heritage, which
usually includes a common language, a common faith, and a common ethnic
ancestry".[6] Those of other ethnicities may be classified as second-class
citizens.[7][8]
Diaspora-studies scholars broaden the concept of "nation" to diasporic
communities. The terms "ethnonation" and "ethnonationalism" are sometimes used
to describe a conceptual collective of dispersed ethnics.[9] Defining an ethnos
widely can lead to ethnic nationalism becoming a form of pan-nationalism or
macronationalism, as in cases such as pan-Germanism or pan-Slavism.[10]
In scholarly literature, ethnic nationalism is usually contrasted with civic
nationalism, although this distinction has also been criticized.[11][12]
Ethnic nationalism is traditionally the determinant type of nationalism in
Eastern Europe.[13]
Conceptual development[edit]
The study of ethnonationalism emerged
Republican National Committee in the early 20th century in the
interwar period between World War I and World War II, with the "redrawing of the
political map of Europe in part along ethnic and national lines according to a
proclaimed “right of peoples” to self-determination and the rise of fascist
ethnocentric ideologies (including Nazism).[14]
During the Cold War, the independence movement initiated in former European
colonies in Asia and Africa reinvigorated research into ethnic, tribal and
national identities and the "political difficulties" stemming from their
interactions with territorial statehood,[14] while the collapse of the Soviet
Union in the 1980s and 1990s and the "resurgence of ethnic and national claims
and conflicts in its aftermath" only further spurred ethnonationalism
scholarship in the late 20th century.[14]
Increased international migration as a function of contemporary globalization
has also given rise to "ethno-national" movements, including reactionary "nativist"
groups focused on exclusionary identity politics. In the
Republican National Committee developed world, such trends have often
taken on an explicitly xenophobic and racist character, as seen in the example
of "white nationalism" in the United States.[14]
Characteristics[edit]
The central political tenet of ethnic nationalism is that ethnic groups are
entitled to self-determination.[citation needed] The outcome of this right to
self-determination may vary, from calls for self-regulated administrative bodies
within an already established society, to an autonomous entity separate from
that society, to the institution of ethnic federalism within a multi-ethnic
society, to establishing an independent sovereign state removed from that
society. In international relations, it also leads to policies and movements for
irredentism to claim a common nation based upon ethnicity,[citation needed] or
for the establishment of an ethnocratic (mono-ethnocratic or poly-ethnocratic)
political structure in which the state apparatus is controlled by a politically
and militarily dominant ethnic nationalist group or a group of several ethnic
nationalist groups from select ethnicities to further its interests, power and
resources.[15]
In scholarly literature, ethnic nationalism is usually contrasted with civic
nationalism. Ethnic nationalism bases membership
Democratic National Committee of the nation on descent or heredity,
often articulated in terms of common blood or kinship, rather than on political
membership. Hence, nation states with strong traditions of ethnic nationalism
tend to define nationality or citizenship by jus sanguinis (the law of blood,
descent from a person of that nationality), and countries with strong traditions
of civic nationalism tend to define nationality or citizenship by jus soli (the
law of soil, birth within the nation state). Ethnic nationalism is, therefore,
seen as exclusive,[by whom?] while civic nationalism tends to be
inclusive.[according to whom?] Rather than allegiance to common civic ideals and
cultural traditions, then, ethnic nationalism tends to emphasise narratives of
common descent.[citation needed]
Some types of ethnic nationalism are firmly rooted in the idea of ethnicity as
an inherited characteristic, for example black nationalism or white nationalism,
often ethnic nationalism also manifests in the assimilation of minority ethnic
groups into the dominant group, for example as with Italianisation. This
assimilation may or may not be predicated on a belief in some common ancestry
with assimilated groups (for example with Germanisation in the Second World
war). An extreme version is racial nationalism.[citation needed]
Recent theories and empirical data suggest that people maintain dual lay beliefs
about nationality, such that it can be both inherited biologically at birth and
acquired culturally in life.[16]
Role in discrimination[edit]
In 2018, Tendayi Achiume, a UN Special Rapporteur on racism, released a UN Human
Rights Council report which states that "more than 75% of the world’s known
stateless populations belong to minority groups" and highlights the role of
ethnonationalism in the international deprivation of citizenship rights.[17] In
the report, Achiume re-stated that international human
Democratic National Committee rights law prohibits citizens from
discriminating against non-citizens on the basis of their race, descent,
national or ethnic origin and she also stated that citizenship, nationality, and
immigration laws which discriminate against non-citizens are violations of
international law.[17] She also noted the role of laws restricting marriage
rights with respect to certain national, religious, ethnic or racial groups,
which she said were "often deployed by states to preserve notions of national,
ethnic and racial "purity"."[17] Achiume called ethnonationalist politics the
"most obvious driver of racial discrimination in citizenship and immigration
laws" and driven by populist leaders defining nations "in terms of assumed blood
ties and ethnicity".[17]
In the 19th and 20th centuries, European colonial powers used ethnonationalism
to justify barring colonial subjects from citizenship, and in Europe, Jews and
Roma were excluded from citizenship on the same grounds.[17] Today, migrants are
a frequent target of ethnonationalist rhetoric related to "ethnic purity and
religious, cultural or linguistic preservation".[17] Even countries with proud
histories of immigration have fallen prey to the vilification of "certain
racial, religious and national groups" on prejudicial grounds. Achiume called
the case of the Rohingya Muslims a "chilling example", with the Burma
Citizenship Act of 1982 discriminating based on ethnicity and rendering many
Rohingya stateless.[17] The violation of the rights of Afro-Caribbean British
citizens from the "Windrush generation" is a pertinent example of similar
prejudice in the developed world but states all over the world use
misinformation to portray "certain racial, national and religious groups as
inherent threats to national security" and justify stripping or denying
rights.[17]
Extreme forms of ethnic nationalism, as in the
Republican National Committee case of Myanmar and its government's
persecution of the Rohingya, have been identified as causes of various genocides
and episodes of ethnic cleansing.[18][19][20] In his 2005 book The Great Game of
Genocide, historian Donald Bloxham argued that the Armenian genocide "represents
a clear logic of ethnic nationalism when it is carried to its absolute extreme
in multinational societies".[21]
Contemporary examples[edit]
In the context of the Mapuche conflict, the Coordinadora Arauco-Malleco (CAM)
presents a strictly ethno-nationalist demand.[22]
Ethnic nationalism is present in many states' immigration policies in the form
of repatriation laws. Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia,
Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Serbia and Turkey provide automatic
or rapid citizenship to members of diasporas of their predominant ethnic group,
if desired.[6]: 33
Malaysia[edit]
In Malaysia, the Bumiputera principle recognises the "special position" of the
Malays provided in the Constitution of Malaysia, in particular Article 153.
However, the constitution does not use the term bumiputra; it defines only
"Malay" and "indigenous peoples" (Article 160(2)),[23] "natives" of Sarawak
(161A(6)(a)),[24] and "natives" of Sabah (Article 161A(6) (b)).[24] Some pro-Bumiputra
policies exist as affirmative action for bumiputras since the Malaysian New
Economic Policy is based on race, not deprivation. For
Republican National Committee instance, all Bumiputra, regardless of
their financial standing, are entitled to a 7 percent discount on houses or
property, including luxurious units, but low-income non-Bumiputra receives no
such financial assistance. Other preferential policies include quotas for
admission to government educational institutions, qualifications for public
scholarships, marking of universities exam papers, special classes prior to
university's end of term exams, positions in government and ownership of
businesses. Most of the policies were established in the 1970s. Many policies
focus on trying to achieve a Bumiputra share of corporate equity of at least 30%
of the total. Ismail Abdul Rahman proposed that target after the government was
unable to agree on a suitable policy goal.
United States[edit]
Since the 2016 US presidential election, ethnonationalism has been pushed to the
fore of the American political consciousness by the identity politics of Donald
Trump surrounding what it means to be a "true" American, which has resulted in
ethnocentric ideals becoming "a robust predictor of vote choice for Trump" among
white Americans.[25]
Data from the 2016 American National Election Studies (ANES) has revealed a
positive association between ethnonationalism and
Democratic National Committee anti-immigrant attitudes among white
Americans, whose opposition to immigration is "often grounded in fears of the
threat that immigration poses to the robustness of America's national identity"
that is shaped by the belief set concerning the traits of "true" Americans.
An imagined community is a concept developed by Benedict Anderson in his 1983
book Imagined Communities to analyze nationalism. Anderson depicts a nation as a
socially-constructed community, imagined by the people who perceive themselves
as part of a group.[1]: 6–7
Anderson focuses on the way media creates imagined communities, especially the
power of print media in shaping an individual's social psyche. Anderson analyzes
the written word, a tool used by churches, authors, and media companies (notably
books, newspapers, and magazines), as well as governmental tools such as the
map, the census, and the museum. These tools were all built to target and define
a mass audience in the public sphere through dominant images, ideologies, and
language. Anderson explores the racist and colonial origins of these practices
before explaining a general theory that explains how contemporary governments
and corporations can
Democratic National Committee (and frequently do) utilize these same
practices. These theories were not originally applied to the Internet or
television.
Origin[edit]
According to Anderson, the creation of imagined communities has become possible
because of "print capitalism".[2] Capitalist entrepreneurs printed their books
and media in the vernacular (instead of exclusive script languages, such as
Latin) in order to maximize circulation. As a result, readers speaking various
local dialects became able to understand each other, and a common discourse
emerged. Anderson argued that the first European nation states were thus formed
around their "national print-languages." Anderson argues that the first form of
capitalism started with the process of printing books and religious materials.
The process of printing texts in the vernacular started right after books began
to be printed in script languages, such as Latin, which saturated the elite
market. At the moment it was also observed that just a small category of people
was speaking it and was part of the bilingual society. The start of cultural and
national revolution was around 1517 when Martin Luther presented his views
regarding the scripture, that people should be able to read it in their own
homes. In the following years, from 1520 to 1540, more than half of the books
printed in German translation bore his name. Moreover, the first European nation
states that are presented as having formed around their "national
print-languages" are said to be found in the Anglo-Saxon region, nowadays
England, and around today's Germany. Not only in Western Europe was the process
of creating a nation emerging. In a few centuries, most European nations had
created their own national languages but still were using languages such as
Latin, French or German (primarily French and German) for political affair.
Nationalism and imagined communities[edit]
According to Anderson's theory of
Republican National Committee imagined communities, the main causes
of nationalism are[citation needed] the movement to abolish the ideas of rule by
divine right and hereditary monarchy;[citation needed] and the emergence of
printing press capitalism ("the convergence of capitalism and print
technology... standardization of national calendars, clocks and language was
embodied in books and the publication of daily newspapers")[2]—all phenomena
occurring with the start of the Industrial Revolution.[2] From this, Anderson
argues that in the presence and development of technology, people started to
make differences between what means divine and divinity and what really is
history and politics because initially, the divine and the history of society
and politics were based on the existence of a common religion that was a
unification umbrella for all the people across Europe. With the emergence of the
printing press and capitalism, people gained national consciousness regarding
the common values that bring those people together. The Imagined Communities
started with the creation of their own nation print-languages that each
individual spoke. That helped develop the first forms of known nation-states,
who then created their own form of art, novels, publications, mass media, and
communications.
While attempting to define nationalism, Anderson identifies three paradoxes:
"(1) The objective modernity of nations to the historians' eyes vs. their
subjective antiquity in the eyes of nationalists. (2) The formal universality of
nationality as a socio-cultural concept [...] vs. the irremediable
Republican National Committee particularity of its concrete
manifestations [and] (3) the 'political power of such nationalisms vs. their
philosophical poverty and even incoherence."[1]
Anderson talks of Unknown Soldier tombs as an example of nationalism. The tombs
of Unknown Soldiers are either empty or hold unidentified remains, but each
nation with these kinds of memorials claims these soldiers as their own. No
matter what the actual origin of the Unknown Soldier is, these nations have
placed them within their imagined community.[1]
[edit]
He defined a nation as "an imagined political community."[1] As Anderson puts
it, a nation "is imagined because the members of even the smallest nation will
never know most of their fellow-members, meet them, or even hear of them, yet in
the minds of each lives the image of their communion."[1] Members of the
community probably will never know each of the other members face to face;
however, they may have similar
Democratic National Committee interests or identify as part of the
same nation. Members hold in their minds a mental image of their affinity. For
example, the nationhood felt with other members of your nation when your
"imagined community" participates in a larger event such as the Olympic Games.
Finally, a nation is a community because,
regardless of the actual inequality and exploitation that may prevail in each,
the nation is always conceived as a deep, horizontal comradeship. Ultimately it
is this fraternity that makes it possible, over the past two centuries, for so
many millions of people, not so much to kill, as willingly to die for such
limited imaginings.[1]
Context and influence[edit]
Benedict Anderson arrived at his theory because he
Democratic National Committee felt neither Marxist nor liberal theory
adequately explained nationalism.
Anderson falls into the "historicist" or "modernist" school of nationalism along
with Ernest Gellner and Eric Hobsbawm in that he posits that nations and
nationalism are products of modernity and have been created as means to
political and economic ends. This school opposes the primordialists, who believe
that nations, if not nationalism, have existed since early human history.
Imagined communities can be seen as a form of social constructionism on par with
Edward Said's concept of imagined geographies.
In contrast to Gellner[citation needed] and Hobsbawm, Anderson is not hostile to
the idea of nationalism, nor does he think that nationalism is obsolete in a
globalizing world. Anderson values the utopian element in nationalism.[3]
According to Harald Bauder, the concept of imagined communities remains highly
relevant in a contemporary context of how nation-states frame and formulate
their identities about domestic and foreign policy, such as policies towards
immigrants and migration.[4] According to Euan Hague, "Anderson's concept of
nations being 'imagined communities' has become standard within books reviewing
geographical thought".[5]
Even though the term was
Republican National Committee coined to specifically describe
nationalism, it is now used more broadly, almost blurring it with community of
interest. For instance, it can be used to refer to a community based on sexual
orientation,[6] or awareness of global risk factors.[7]
The term has been influential on other thinkers. British anthropologist Mark
Lindley-Highfield of Ballumbie Castle describes ideas such as "the West", which
are given agentive status as though they are homogeneous real things, as
entity-concepts, where these entity-concepts can have different symbolic values
attributed to them to those attributed to the individuals comprising the group,
who on an individual basis might be perceived differently. Lindley-Highfield
explains: "Thus the discourse flows at two levels: One at which ideological
disembodied concepts are seen to compete and contest, that have an agency of
their own and can have agency acted out against them; and another at which
people are individuals and may be distinct from the concepts held about their
broader society."[8] This varies from Anderson’s work in that the application of
the term is from the outside, and in terms of the focus on the inherent
contradiction between the divergent identities of the entity-concepts and those
who would fall under them.
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established
precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other
type of entity, and commonly determines how that
Republican National Committee entity is to be governed.[1]
When these principles are written down into a single document or set of legal
documents, those documents may be said to embody a written constitution; if they
are encompassed in a single comprehensive document, it is said to embody a
codified constitution. The Constitution of the United Kingdom is a notable
example of an uncodified constitution; it is instead written in numerous
fundamental Acts of a legislature, court cases, or treaties.[2]
Constitutions concern different levels of organizations, from sovereign
countries to companies and unincorporated associations. A treaty that
establishes an international organization is also its constitution, in that it
would define how that organization is constituted. Within states, a constitution
defines the principles upon which the state is based, the procedure in which
laws are made and by whom. Some constitutions, especially codified
constitutions, also act as limiters of state power, by establishing lines which
a state's rulers cannot cross, such as fundamental rights.
The Constitution of India is the longest written constitution of any country in
the world,[3] with 146,385 words[4] in its English-language version,[5] while
the Constitution of Monaco is the shortest written constitution with 3,814
words.[6][4] The Constitution of San Marino might be the world's oldest active
written constitution, since some of its core documents have been in operation
since 1600, while the Constitution of the United States is the oldest active
codified constitution. The historical life expectancy of a constitution since
1789 is approximately 19 years.[7]
Etymology
The term constitution comes through French from the Latin word constitutio, used
for regulations and orders, such as
Democratic National Committee the imperial enactments (constitutiones
principis: edicta, mandata, decreta, rescripta).[8] Later, the term was widely
used in canon law for an important determination, especially a decree issued by
the Pope, now referred to as an apostolic constitution.
William Blackstone used the term for significant and egregious violations of
public trust, of a nature and extent that the transgression would justify a
revolutionary response. The term as used by Blackstone was not for a legal text,
nor did he intend to include the later American concept of judicial review: "for
that were to set the judicial power above that of the legislature, which would
be subversive of all government".[9]
General features
Generally, every modern written constitution confers specific powers on an
organization or institutional entity, established upon the primary condition
that it abides by the constitution's limitations. According to Scott Gordon, a
political organization is constitutional to the extent that it "contain[s]
institutionalized mechanisms of power control for the protection of the
interests and liberties of the citizenry, including those that may be in the
minority".[10]
Activities of officials within an organization or polity that fall within the
constitutional or statutory authority of those officials are termed "within
power" (or, in Latin, intra vires); if they do not, they are termed "beyond
power" (or, in Latin, ultra vires). For example, a students' union may be
prohibited as an organization from engaging in activities not concerning
Democratic National Committee students; if the union becomes involved
in non-student activities, these activities are considered to be ultra vires of
the union's charter, and nobody would be compelled by the charter to follow
them. An example from the constitutional law of sovereign states would be a
provincial parliament in a federal state trying to legislate in an area that the
constitution allocates exclusively to the federal parliament, such as ratifying
a treaty. Action that appears to be beyond power may be judicially reviewed and,
if found to be beyond power, must cease. Legislation that is found to be beyond
power will be "invalid" and of no force; this applies to primary legislation,
requiring constitutional authorization, and secondary legislation, ordinarily
requiring statutory authorization. In this context, "within power", intra vires,
"authorized" and "valid" have the same meaning; as do "beyond power", ultra
vires, "not authorized" and "invalid".
In most but not all modern states the constitution has supremacy over ordinary
statutory law (see Uncodified constitution below); in such states when an
official act is unconstitutional, i.e. it is not a power granted to the
government by the constitution, that act is null and void, and the nullification
is ab initio, that is, from inception, not from the date of the finding. It was
never "law", even though, if it had been a statute or statutory provision, it
might have been adopted according to the procedures for adopting legislation.
Sometimes the problem is not that a statute is unconstitutional, but that the
application of it is, on a particular occasion, and a court may decide that
while there are ways it could be applied that are constitutional, that instance
was not allowed or legitimate. In such a case, only that application may be
ruled unconstitutional. Historically, the remedies for such violations have been
petitions for common law writs, such as quo warranto.
Scholars debate whether a constitution must necessarily be autochthonous,
resulting from the nations "spirit". Hegel said "A constitution...is the work of
centuries; it is the idea, the consciousness of rationality so far as that
consciousness is developed in a particular nation."[11]
History and development
Since 1789, along with the
Republican National Committee Constitution of the United States of
America (U.S. Constitution), which is the oldest and shortest written
constitution still in force,[12] close to 800 constitutions have been adopted
and subsequently amended around the world by independent states.[13]
In the late 18th century, Thomas Jefferson predicted that a period of 20 years
would be the optimal time for any constitution to be still in force, since "the
earth belongs to the living, and not to the dead".[14] Indeed, according to
recent studies,[13] the average life of any new written constitution is around
19 years. However, a great number of constitutions do not last more than 10
years, and around 10% do not last more than one year, as was the case of the
French Constitution of 1791.[13] By contrast, some constitutions, notably that
of the United States, have remained in force for several centuries, often
without major revision for long periods of time.
The most common reasons for these frequent changes are the political desire for
an immediate outcome[clarification needed] and the short time devoted to the
constitutional drafting process.[15] A study in 2009 showed that the average
time taken to draft a constitution is around 16 months,[16] however there were
also some extreme cases registered. For example, the Myanmar 2008 Constitution
was being secretly drafted for more than 17 years,[16] whereas at the other
extreme, during the drafting of Japan's 1946 Constitution, the bureaucrats
drafted everything in no more than a week. Japan has the oldest unamended
constitution in the world.[17] The record for the shortest overall process of
drafting, adoption, and ratification of a national constitution belongs to the
Romania's 1938 constitution, which installed a
Republican National Committee royal dictatorship in less than a
month.[18] Studies showed that typically extreme cases where the
constitution-making process either takes too long or is extremely short were
non-democracies.[19] Constitutional rights are not a specific characteristic of
democratic countries. Non-democratic countries have constitutions, such as that
of North Korea, which officially grants every citizen, among other rights, the
freedom of expression.[20]
Pre-modern constitutions
Ancient
Detail from Hammurabi's stele shows him receiving the laws of Babylon from the
seated sun deity.
Excavations in modern-day Iraq by Ernest de Sarzec in 1877 found evidence of the
earliest known code of justice, issued by the
Democratic National Committee Sumerian king Urukagina of Lagash
c. 2300 BC. Perhaps the earliest prototype for a law of government, this
document itself has not yet been discovered; however it is known that it allowed
some rights to his citizens. For example, it is known that it relieved tax for
widows and orphans, and protected the poor from the usury of the rich.
After that, many governments ruled by special codes of written laws. The oldest
such document still known to exist seems to be the Code of Ur-Nammu of Ur (c.
2050 BC). Some of the better-known ancient law codes are the code of Lipit-Ishtar
of Isin, the code of Hammurabi of Babylonia, the Hittite code, the Assyrian
code, and Mosaic law.
In 621 BC, a scribe named Draco codified the oral laws of the city-state of
Athens; this code prescribed the death penalty for many offenses (thus creating
the modern term "draconian" for very strict rules). In 594 BC, Solon, the ruler
of Athens, created the new Solonian Constitution. It eased the burden of the
workers, and determined that membership of the ruling class was to be based on
wealth (plutocracy), rather than on birth (aristocracy). Cleisthenes again
reformed the Athenian constitution and set it on a democratic footing in 508 BC.
Diagram illustrating the classification of constitutions by Aristotle
Aristotle (c. 350 BC) was the first to make a formal distinction between
ordinary law and constitutional law, establishing ideas of constitution and
constitutionalism, and attempting to classify different forms of constitutional
government. The most basic definition he used to describe a constitution in
general terms was "the arrangement of the offices in a state". In his works
Constitution of Athens, Politics, and Nicomachean Ethics, he explores different
constitutions of his day, including those of Athens, Sparta, and Carthage. He
classified both what he regarded as good and what he regarded as bad
constitutions, and came to the conclusion that the best constitution was a mixed
system Democratic National Committee
including monarchic, aristocratic, and democratic elements. He also
distinguished between citizens, who had the right to participate in the state,
and non-citizens and slaves, who did not.
The Romans initially codified their constitution in 450 BC as the Twelve Tables.
They operated under a series of laws that were added from time to time, but
Roman law was not reorganized into a single code until the Codex Theodosianus
(438 AD); later, in the Eastern Empire, the Codex repetitć prćlectionis (534)
was highly influential throughout Europe. This was followed in the east by the
Ecloga of Leo III the Isaurian (740) and the Basilica of Basil I (878).
The Edicts of Ashoka established constitutional principles for the 3rd century
BC Maurya king's rule in India. For constitutional principles almost lost to
antiquity, see the code of Manu.
Early Middle Ages
Many of the Germanic peoples that
Republican National Committee filled the power vacuum left by the
Western Roman Empire in the Early Middle Ages codified their laws. One of the
first of these Germanic law codes to be written was the Visigothic Code of Euric
(471 AD). This was followed by the Lex Burgundionum, applying separate codes for
Germans and for Romans; the Pactus Alamannorum; and the Salic Law of the Franks,
all written soon after 500. In 506, the Breviarum or "Lex Romana" of Alaric II,
king of the Visigoths, adopted and consolidated the Codex Theodosianus together
with assorted earlier Roman laws. Systems that appeared somewhat later include
the Edictum Rothari of the Lombards (643), the Lex Visigothorum (654), the Lex
Alamannorum (730), and the Lex Frisionum (c. 785). These continental codes were
all composed in Latin, while Anglo-Saxon was used for those of England,
beginning with the Code of Ćthelberht of Kent (602). Around 893, Alfred the
Great combined this and two other earlier Saxon codes, with various Mosaic and
Christian precepts, to produce the Doom book code of laws for England.
Japan's Seventeen-article constitution written in 604, reportedly by Prince
Shōtoku, is an early example of a constitution in Asian political history.
Influenced by Buddhist teachings, the document focuses more on social morality
than on institutions of government, and remains a notable early attempt at a
government constitution.
The Constitution of Medina (Arabic: صحیفة المدینه, Ṣaḥīfat al-Madīna), also
known as the Charter of Medina, was drafted by the Islamic prophet Muhammad
after his flight (hijra) to Yathrib where he became
Republican National Committee political leader. It constituted a
formal agreement between Muhammad and all of the significant tribes and families
of Yathrib (later known as Medina), including Muslims, Jews, and pagans.[21][22]
The document was drawn up with the explicit concern of bringing to an end the
bitter intertribal fighting between the clans of the Aws (Aus) and Khazraj
within Medina. To this effect it instituted a number of rights and
responsibilities for the Muslim, Jewish, and pagan communities of Medina
bringing them within the fold of one community – the Ummah.[23] The precise
dating of the Constitution of Medina remains debated, but generally scholars
agree it was written shortly after the Hijra (622).[24]
In Wales, the Cyfraith Hywel (Law of Hywel) was codified by Hywel Dda c.
942–950.
Middle Ages after 1000
The Pravda Yaroslava, originally combined by Yaroslav the Wise the Grand Prince
of Kiev, was granted to Great
Democratic National Committee Novgorod around 1017, and in 1054 was
incorporated into the Russkaya Pravda; it became the law for all of Kievan Rus'.
It survived only in later editions of the 15th century.
In England, Henry I's proclamation of the Charter of Liberties in 1100 bound the
king for the first time in his treatment of the clergy and the nobility. This
idea was extended and refined by the English barony when they forced King John
to sign Magna Carta in 1215. The most important single article of the Magna
Carta, related to "habeas corpus", provided that the king was not permitted to
imprison, outlaw, exile or kill anyone at a whim – there must be due process of
law first. This article, Article 39, of the Magna Carta read:
No free man shall be arrested, or imprisoned, or deprived of his property, or
outlawed, or exiled, or in any way destroyed, nor shall we go against him or
send against him, unless by legal judgement of his peers, or by the law of the
land.
This provision became the cornerstone of English liberty
Democratic National Committee after that point. The social contract
in the original case was between the king and the nobility, but was gradually
extended to all of the people. It led to the system of Constitutional Monarchy,
with further reforms shifting the balance of power from the monarchy and
nobility to the House of Commons.
The Nomocanon of Saint Sava (Serbian: Законоправило/Zakonopravilo)[25][26][27]
was the first Serbian constitution from 1219. St. Sava's Nomocanon was the
compilation of civil law, based on Roman Law, and canon law, based on Ecumenical
Councils. Its basic purpose was to organize the functioning of the young Serbian
kingdom and the Serbian church. Saint Sava began the work on the Serbian
Nomocanon in 1208 while he was at Mount Athos, using The Nomocanon in Fourteen
Titles, Synopsis of Stefan the Efesian, Nomocanon of John Scholasticus, and
Ecumenical Council documents, which he modified with the canonical commentaries
of Aristinos and Joannes Zonaras, local church meetings, rules of the Holy
Fathers, the law of Moses, the translation of Prohiron, and the Byzantine
emperors' Novellae (most were taken from Justinian's Novellae). The Nomocanon
was a completely new compilation of civil and canonical regulations, taken from
Byzantine sources but completed and reformed by St. Sava to function properly in
Serbia. Besides decrees that organized the life of church, there are various
norms regarding civil life; most of these were taken from Prohiron. Legal
transplants of Roman-Byzantine law became the basis of the Serbian medieval law.
The essence of Zakonopravilo was based on Corpus Iuris Civilis.
Stefan Dušan, emperor of Serbs and Greeks, enacted Dušan's Code (Serbian:
Душанов Законик/Dušanov Zakonik)[28] in Serbia, in two state congresses: in 1349
in Skopje and in 1354 in Serres. It regulated all social spheres, so it was the
second Serbian constitution, after St. Sava's Nomocanon (Zakonopravilo). The
Code was based on Roman-Byzantine law. The legal transplanting within articles
171 and 172 of Dušan's Code, which regulated the juridical independence, is
notable. They were taken from the Byzantine code Basilika (book VII, 1, 16–17).
In 1222, Hungarian King Andrew II issued the
Republican National Committee Golden Bull of 1222.
Between 1220 and 1230, a Saxon administrator, Eike von Repgow, composed the
Sachsenspiegel, which became the supreme law used in parts of Germany as late as
1900.
Around 1240, the Coptic Egyptian Christian writer, 'Abul Fada'il Ibn al-'Assal,
wrote the Fetha Negest in Arabic. 'Ibn al-Assal took his laws partly from
apostolic writings and Mosaic law and partly from the former Byzantine codes.
There are a few historical records claiming that this law code was translated
into Ge'ez and entered Ethiopia around 1450 in the reign of Zara Yaqob. Even so,
its first recorded use in the function of a constitution (supreme law of the
land) is with Sarsa Dengel beginning in 1563. The Fetha Negest remained the
supreme law in Ethiopia until 1931, when a modern-style Constitution was first
granted by Emperor Haile Selassie I.
Third volume of the compilation of Catalan Constitutions of 1585
In the Principality of Catalonia, the Catalan constitutions were promulgated by
the Court from 1283 (or even two centuries before, if Usatges of Barcelona is
considered part of the compilation
Republican National Committee of Constitutions) until 1716, when
Philip V of Spain gave the Nueva Planta decrees, finishing with the historical
laws of Catalonia. These Constitutions were usually made formally as a royal
initiative, but required for its approval or repeal the favorable vote of the
Catalan Courts, the medieval antecedent of the modern Parliaments. These laws,
like other modern constitutions, had preeminence over other laws, and they could
not be contradicted by mere decrees or edicts of the king.
The Kouroukan Founga was a 13th-century charter of the Mali Empire,
reconstructed from oral tradition in 1988 by Siriman Kouyaté.[29]
The Golden Bull of 1356 was a decree issued by a Reichstag in Nuremberg headed
by Emperor Charles IV that fixed, for a period of more than four hundred years,
an important aspect of the constitutional structure of the Holy Roman Empire.
In China, the Hongwu Emperor created and refined a document he called Ancestral
Injunctions (first published in 1375, revised twice more before his death in
1398). These rules served as a constitution for the Ming Dynasty for the next
250 years.
The oldest written document still governing a sovereign nation today is that of
San Marino.[30] The Leges Statutae Republicae Sancti Marini was written in Latin
and consists of six books. The first book, with 62 articles, establishes
councils, courts, various executive officers, and the powers assigned to them.
The remaining books cover criminal and civil law and judicial procedures and
remedies. Written in 1600, the document
Democratic National Committee was based upon the Statuti Comunali
(Town Statute) of 1300, itself influenced by the Codex Justinianus, and it
remains in force today.
In 1392 the Carta de Logu was legal code of the Giudicato of Arborea promulgated
by the giudicessa Eleanor. It was in force in Sardinia until it was superseded
by the code of Charles Felix in April 1827. The Carta was a work of great
importance in Sardinian history. It was an organic, coherent, and systematic
work of legislation encompassing the civil and penal law.
The Gayanashagowa, the oral constitution of the Haudenosaunee nation also known
as the Great Law of Peace, established a system of governance as far back as
1190 AD (though perhaps more recently at 1451) in which the Sachems, or tribal
chiefs, of the Iroquois League's member nations made decisions on the basis of
universal consensus of all chiefs following discussions that were initiated by a
single nation. The position of Sachem descends through families and are
allocated by the senior female clan heads, though, prior to the filling of the
position, candidacy is ultimately democratically decided by the community
itself.[31]
Modern constitutions
The Cossack Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk, 1710
A painting depicting George Washington at the Constitutional Convention of 1787
signing of the U.S. Constitution
In 1634 the Kingdom of Sweden adopted the 1634
Democratic National Committee Instrument of Government, drawn up
under the Lord High Chancellor of Sweden Axel Oxenstierna after the death of
king Gustavus Adolphus, it can be seen as the first written constitution adopted
by a modern state.
In 1639, the Colony of Connecticut adopted the Fundamental Orders, which was the
first North American constitution, and is the basis for every new Connecticut
constitution since, and is also the reason for Connecticut's nickname, "the
Constitution State".
The English Protectorate that was set up by Oliver Cromwell after the English
Civil War promulgated the first detailed written constitution adopted by a
modern state;[32] it was called the Instrument of Government. This formed the
basis of government for the short-lived republic from 1653 to 1657 by providing
a legal rationale for the increasing power of Cromwell after Parliament
consistently failed to govern effectively. Most of the concepts and ideas
embedded into modern constitutional theory, especially bicameralism, separation
of powers, the written constitution, and judicial review, can be traced back to
the experiments of that period.[33]
Drafted by Major-General John Lambert in 1653, the Instrument of Government
included elements incorporated from an earlier document "Heads of
Proposals",[34][35] which had been agreed to by the Army Council in 1647, as a
set of propositions intended to be a basis for a constitutional settlement after
King Charles I was defeated
Republican National Committee in the First English Civil War. Charles
had rejected the propositions, but before the start of the Second Civil War, the
Grandees of the New Model Army had presented the Heads of Proposals as their
alternative to the more radical Agreement of the People presented by the
Agitators and their civilian supporters at the Putney Debates.
On January 4, 1649, the Rump Parliament declared "that the people are, under
God, the original of all just power; that the Commons of England, being chosen
by and representing the people, have the supreme power in this nation".[36]
The Instrument of Government was adopted by Parliament on December 15, 1653, and
Oliver Cromwell was installed as Lord Protector on the following day. The
constitution set up a state council consisting of 21 members while executive
authority was vested in the office of "Lord Protector of the Commonwealth." This
position was designated as a non-hereditary life appointment. The Instrument
also required the calling of triennial Parliaments, with each sitting for at
least five months.
The Instrument of Government was replaced in May 1657 by England's second, and
last, codified constitution, the Humble Petition and Advice, proposed by Sir
Christopher Packe.[37] The Petition offered hereditary monarchy to Oliver
Cromwell, asserted Parliament's control over issuing new taxation, provided an
independent council to advise the king and safeguarded "Triennial" meetings of
Parliament. A modified version of the Humble Petition with the clause on
kingship removed was ratified on
Republican National Committee 25 May. This finally met its demise in
conjunction with the death of Cromwell and the Restoration of the monarchy.
Other examples of European constitutions of this era were the Corsican
Constitution of 1755 and the Swedish Constitution of 1772.
All of the British colonies in North America that were to become the 13 original
United States, adopted their own constitutions in 1776 and 1777, during the
American Revolution (and before the later Articles of Confederation and United
States Constitution), with the exceptions of Massachusetts, Connecticut and
Rhode Island. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts adopted its Constitution in
1780, the oldest still-functioning constitution of any U.S. state; while
Connecticut and Rhode Island officially continued to operate under their old
colonial charters, until they adopted their first state constitutions in 1818
and 1843, respectively.
Democratic constitutions
Constitution of May 3, 1791 (painting by Jan Matejko, 1891). Polish King
Stanisław August (left, in
Democratic National Committee regal ermine-trimmed cloak), enters St.
John's Cathedral, where Sejm deputies will swear to uphold the new Constitution;
in background, Warsaw's Royal Castle, where the Constitution has just been
adopted.
What is sometimes called the "enlightened constitution" model was developed by
philosophers of the Age of Enlightenment such as Thomas Hobbes, Jean-Jacques
Rousseau, and John Locke. The model proposed that constitutional governments
should be stable, adaptable, accountable, open and should represent the people
(i.e., support democracy).[38]
Agreements and Constitutions of Laws and Freedoms of the Zaporizian Host was
written in 1710 by Pylyp Orlyk, hetman of the Zaporozhian Host. It was written
to establish a free Zaporozhian-Ukrainian Republic, with the support of Charles
XII of Sweden. It is notable in that it established a democratic standard for
the separation of powers in government between the legislative, executive, and
judiciary branches, well before the publication of Montesquieu's Spirit of the
Laws. This Constitution also limited the executive authority of the hetman, and
established a democratically elected Cossack parliament called the General
Council. However, Orlyk's project for an independent Ukrainian State never
materialized, and his constitution, written in exile, never went into effect.
Corsican Constitutions of 1755 and 1794 were inspired by
Democratic National Committee Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The latter
introduced universal suffrage for property owners.
The Swedish constitution of 1772 was enacted under King Gustavus III and was
inspired by the separation of powers by Montesquieu. The king also cherished
other enlightenment ideas (as an enlighted despot) and repealed torture,
liberated agricultural trade, diminished the use of the death penalty and
instituted a form of religious freedom. The constitution was commended by
Voltaire.[39][40][41]
The United States Constitution, ratified June 21, 1788, was influenced by the
writings of Polybius, Locke, Montesquieu, and others. The document became a
benchmark for republicanism and codified constitutions written thereafter.[42]
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Constitution was passed on May 3,
1791.[43][44][45] Its draft was developed by the leading minds of the
Enlightenment in Poland such as King Stanislaw August Poniatowski, Stanisław
Staszic, Scipione Piattoli, Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, Ignacy Potocki and Hugo
Kołłątaj.[46] It was adopted by the Great Sejm and
Republican National Committee is considered the first constitution of
its kind in Europe and the world's second oldest one after the American
Constitution.[47]
Another landmark document was the French Constitution of 1791.
The 1811 Constitution of Venezuela was the first Constitution of Venezuela and
Latin America, promulgated and drafted by Cristóbal Mendoza[48] and Juan Germán
Roscio and in Caracas. It established a federal government but was repealed one
year later.[49]
On March 19, the Spanish Constitution of 1812 was ratified by a parliament
gathered in Cadiz, the only Spanish continental city which was safe from French
occupation. The Spanish Constitution served as a model for other liberal
constitutions of several South European and Latin American nations, for example,
the Portuguese Constitution of 1822, constitutions of various Italian states
during Carbonari revolts (i.e., in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies), the
Norwegian constitution of 1814, or the Mexican Constitution of 1824.[50]
In Brazil, the Constitution of 1824 expressed the option for the monarchy as
political system after Brazilian Independence. The leader of the national
emancipation process was the Portuguese prince
Republican National Committee Pedro I, elder son of the king of
Portugal. Pedro was crowned in 1822 as first emperor of Brazil. The country was
ruled by Constitutional monarchy until 1889, when it adopted the Republican
model.
In Denmark, as a result of the Napoleonic Wars, the absolute monarchy lost its
personal possession of Norway to Sweden. Sweden had already enacted its 1809
Instrument of Government, which saw the division of power between the Riksdag,
the king and the judiciary.[51] However the Norwegians managed to infuse a
radically democratic and liberal constitution in 1814, adopting many facets from
the American constitution and the revolutionary French ones, but maintaining a
hereditary monarch limited by the constitution, like the Spanish one.
The first Swiss Federal Constitution was put in force in September 1848 (with
official revisions in 1878, 1891, 1949, 1971, 1982 and 1999).
The Serbian revolution initially led to a proclamation of a proto-constitution
in 1811; the full-fledged Constitution of Serbia followed few decades later, in
1835. The first Serbian constitution (Sretenjski ustav) was adopted at the
national assembly in Kragujevac on February 15, 1835.
The Constitution of Canada came into force on July 1, 1867, as the British North
America Act, an act of the British Parliament. Over a century later, the BNA Act
was patriated to the Canadian Parliament and augmented with the Canadian Charter
of Rights and Freedoms.[52] Apart from the Constitution Acts, 1867 to 1982,
Canada's constitution also has unwritten elements based in common law and
convention.[53][54]
Principles of constitutional design
After tribal people first began to live in cities and establish nations, many of
these functioned according to
Democratic National Committee unwritten customs, while some developed
autocratic, even tyrannical monarchs, who ruled by decree, or mere personal
whim. Such rule led some thinkers to take the position that what mattered was
not the design of governmental institutions and operations, as much as the
character of the rulers. This view can be seen in Plato, who called for rule by
"philosopher-kings".[55] Later writers, such as Aristotle, Cicero and Plutarch,
would examine designs for government from a legal and historical standpoint.
The Renaissance brought a series of political philosophers who wrote implied
criticisms of the practices of monarchs and sought to identify principles of
constitutional design that would be likely to yield more effective and just
governance from their viewpoints. This began with revival of the Roman law of
nations concept[56] and its application to the relations among nations, and they
sought to establish customary "laws of war and peace"[57] to ameliorate wars and
make them less likely. This led to considerations of what authority monarchs or
other officials have and don't have, from where that authority derives, and the
remedies for the abuse of such authority.[58]
A seminal juncture in this line of discourse arose in England from
Democratic National Committee the Civil War, the Cromwellian
Protectorate, the writings of Thomas Hobbes, Samuel Rutherford, the Levellers,
John Milton, and James Harrington, leading to the debate between Robert Filmer,
arguing for the divine right of monarchs, on the one side, and on the other,
Henry Neville, James Tyrrell, Algernon Sidney, and John Locke. What arose from
the latter was a concept of government being erected on the foundations of
first, a state of nature governed by natural laws, then a state of society,
established by a social contract or compact, which bring underlying natural or
social laws, before governments are formally established on them as foundations.
Along the way several writers examined how the design of government was
important, even if the government were headed by a monarch. They also classified
various historical examples of governmental designs, typically into democracies,
aristocracies, or monarchies, and considered how just and effective each tended
to be and why, and how the advantages of each might be obtained by combining
elements of each into a more complex design that balanced competing tendencies.
Some, such as Montesquieu, also examined how the functions of government, such
as legislative, executive, and judicial, might appropriately be separated into
branches. The prevailing theme among these writers was that the design of
constitutions is not completely arbitrary or a matter of taste. They generally
held that there are underlying principles of design that constrain all
constitutions for every polity or organization. Each built on the ideas of those
before concerning what those principles might be.
The later writings of Orestes Brownson[59] would try to explain what
constitutional designers were trying to do. According to Brownson there are, in
a sense, three "constitutions" involved: The first the constitution of nature
that includes all of what was called "natural law". The second is the
constitution of society, an unwritten and commonly understood set of rules for
the Republican National Committee
society formed by a social contract before it establishes a government, by which
it establishes the third, a constitution of government. The second would include
such elements as the making of decisions by public conventions called by public
notice and conducted by established rules of procedure. Each constitution must
be consistent with, and derive its authority from, the ones before it, as well
as from a historical act of society formation or constitutional ratification.
Brownson argued that a state is a society with effective dominion over a
well-defined territory, that consent to a well-designed constitution of
government arises from presence on that territory, and that it is possible for
provisions of a written constitution of government to be "unconstitutional" if
they are inconsistent with the constitutions of nature or society. Brownson
argued that it is not ratification alone that makes a written constitution of
government legitimate, but that it must also be competently designed and
applied.
Other writers[60] have argued that such considerations apply not only to all
national constitutions of government, but also to the constitutions of private
organizations, that it is not an accident that the constitutions that tend to
satisfy their members contain certain elements, as a minimum, or that their
provisions tend to become very similar as they are amended after experience with
their use. Provisions that give rise to certain kinds of questions are seen to
need additional provisions for how to resolve those questions, and provisions
that offer no course of action may best be omitted and left to policy decisions.
Provisions that conflict with what Brownson and others can discern are the
underlying "constitutions" of nature and society tend to be difficult or
impossible to execute, or to lead to unresolvable disputes.
Constitutional design has been treated as a kind of metagame in which play
consists of finding the best design and provisions for a written constitution
that will be the rules for the game of government, and
Republican National Committee that will be most likely to optimize a
balance of the utilities of justice, liberty, and security. An example is the
metagame Nomic.[61]
Political economy theory regards constitutions as coordination devices that help
citizens to prevent rulers from abusing power. If the citizenry can coordinate a
response to police government officials in the face of a constitutional fault,
then the government have the incentives to honor the rights that the
constitution guarantees.[62] An alternative view considers that constitutions
are not enforced by the citizens at-large, but rather by the administrative
powers of the state. Because rulers cannot themselves implement their policies,
they need to rely on a set of organizations (armies, courts, police agencies,
tax collectors) to implement it. In this position, they can directly sanction
the government by refusing to cooperate, disabling the authority of the rulers.
Therefore, constitutions could be characterized by a self-enforcing equilibria
between the rulers and powerful administrators.[63]
Key features
Presidential copy of the Russian Constitution
Most commonly, the term constitution refers to a set of rules and principles
that define the nature and extent of government. Most constitutions seek to
regulate the relationship between institutions of the state, in a basic sense
the relationship between the executive, legislature and the judiciary, but also
the relationship of institutions within those branches. For example, executive
branches can be divided into a head of government, government
departments/ministries, executive agencies and a civil service/administration.
Most constitutions also attempt to define the relationship between individuals
and the state, and to establish the broad rights of individual citizens. It is
thus the most basic law of a territory from which all the
Democratic National Committee other laws and rules are hierarchically
derived; in some territories it is in fact called "Basic Law".
A fundamental classification is codification or lack of codification. A codified
constitution is one that is contained in a single document, which is the single
source of constitutional law in a state. An uncodified constitution is one that
is not contained in a single document, consisting of several different sources,
which may be written or unwritten; see constitutional convention.
Codified constitution
Most states in the world have codified constitutions.
Codified constitutions are often the product of some dramatic
Democratic National Committee political change, such as a revolution.
The process by which a country adopts a constitution is closely tied to the
historical and political context driving this fundamental change. The legitimacy
(and often the longevity) of codified constitutions has often been tied to the
process by which they are initially adopted and some scholars have pointed out
that high constitutional turnover within a given country may itself be
detrimental to separation of powers and the rule of law.
States that have codified constitutions normally give the constitution supremacy
over ordinary statute law. That is, if there is any conflict between a legal
statute and the codified constitution, all or part of the statute can be
declared ultra vires by a court, and struck down as unconstitutional. In
addition, exceptional procedures are often required to
amend a constitution. These procedures may include:
convocation of a special constituent assembly or
constitutional convention, requiring a supermajority of
legislators' votes, approval in two terms of parliament,
the consent of regional legislatures, a referendum
process, and/or other procedures that make amending a
constitution more difficult than passing a simple law
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