Suchergebnisse

Discusses the federalism aspects of the US Supreme Court's decision in Bush v. Gore. The Court's decision to stay the recount in Florida is deemed inconsistent with basic principles of judicial federalism. The Court's review of the Florida Supreme Court's decision, prior to its implementation, countered federalism's limitations on federal court power, & the Supreme Court's pronouncement to end the vote-counting based on Florida law contradicted state courts' jurisdiction over matters of state law. The implications of the decision for future elections & on the Court's legitimacy are evaluated. L. Collins Leigh

Argues that claims that Al Gore would have won the presidency if the US Supreme Court had not terminated the FL recount are based on misunderstandings of statistics & FL law. Not only were the recounts a violation of FL law, but an analysis of the vote using both Palm Beach & Broward County rules indicates that responsible recounts of undervotes would not have produced enough new votes for Gore to overcome George W. Bush's lead. In Miami-Dade County, Gore would have gotten roughly 26 additional votes from the 10,750 disputed ballots, far fewer than the 168 vote gain the FL Supreme Court gave Gore. Even if Gore had prevailed, it would have been due to legal error on the part of the FL courts that should not have extended the deadline for hand recounting, interpreted errors by voters as vote tabulation errors, or reversed Judge Sauls's decision to halt the proceedings. Therefore, it is concluded that the actions of the US Supreme Court represent "rough justice," although "legal justice" is another issue. J. Lindroth

Analyzes interest group politics, ie, forms of political activity & policy influence, under Canada's Charter of Rights & Freedoms. Certain interest groups' interaction, intervention, & arguments concerning the "hate speech" case of R. v. Keegstra are examined for insight to interest group politics in Charter litigation. The impact of the Canadian Supreme Court on liberal & postliberal interest group politics is evaluated. 2 Tables. L. Collins Leigh

Gives the US Supreme Court "two & a half cheers" for its actions in Bush v. Gore, maintaining that the loss of a half cheer was due to their failure to render a bipartisan consensus on the remand issue, which tarnished both the Court & the Bush presidency. Even though Bush probably would have won the recount in FL, & the FL Supreme Court placed the US Supreme Court in an awkward position, the US Court was correct in finding that a standardless recount would violate the 14th Amendment. However, it is contended that the outcome would have been more legitimate if the majority of the justices had joined Justices Souter & Breyer in requiring a remand under strict constitutional standards. The constitutional problem involved in the unequal treatment of identical voters is discussed, along with the often dubious strategies of both Al Gore & George W. Bush's legal teams; much criticism could have been avoided if Gore's position had been a little fairer, & Bush's position a little more accommodating. J. Lindroth

A concluding chapter emphasizes the wide range of opinions generated by the 2000 presidential election, especially the intervention of the US Supreme Court, & examines the impact of these divisions on both the future nature of legal reasoning, & the relation between law & politics. Calls for reform that have emerged from the Bush-Gore contest are reviewed, including changes in the actual operation of election campaigns to afford equal & fair representation. Bush v. Gore put the spotlight on mundane aspects of elections that previously went unnoticed, such as different types of voting machines with varying patterns of failure rates. The call for reform via constitutional litigation is focused primarily on the Electoral College system & the division of power between large & small states. Historical reasons for the Electoral College system are examined, along with the possible consequences of abolishing it. The belief that the Bush-Gore election was a statistical tie is discussed, & suggestions are made for ways to improve the election process without making radical changes to the electoral system. J. Lindroth

The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment has allowed the Supreme Court to intervene in the political process from the 1800s through the US presidential election of 2000. The landmark case, Bush v. Gore, rudely awakened Americans to the fact that the Constitution does not grant individual citizens the right to vote. The Equal Protection Clause itself makes no mention of voting as an inherent right. In the 1960s, the Court used the Equal Protection Clause to involve itself in the causes of reapportionment, vote dilution, & disenfranchisement. However, in many of these cases, it is evident that without Congress, the Court decisions are worth little more than lip service. This reliance on Congress, & a barrier of distrust, led directly to the Court's decision in Bush v. Gore. In fact, it was ultimately the Supreme Court's distrust of Congress's ability to protect the Equal Protection Clause that caused the Court to halt the FL recount. Though the Court's decision in Bush v. Gore was unprecedented, it represents only the latest incarnation of the Supreme Court's inherently regulatory nature. It is unfortunate that this decision has degraded both the Court's reputation & the spirit of American democracy. K. A. Larsen

The authors address the debate on redistricting through an interpretation of redistricting reform in the US since Baker v. Carr, to emphasize the interrelated changes among the legal, technological, & political factors involved. The authors argue that future reform will have to depend on state constitutional & statutory provisions or institutional arrangements to alter the reduction of competitive seats. The historical analysis reviews the changes from Baker v. Carr to the third wave of redistricting through a focus on state criteria & rising partisanship in the US. The decline in competitive districts since redistricting is discussed in terms of incumbent protecting gerrymandering, the shift of bipartisan plans from smaller to larger states, & limitations on competitiveness. The authors conclude that the noncompetitive districts are ill fitted for a rights framework, & will require institutional types of reform. Tables. J. Harwell

A defense of the US Supreme Court decision in Bush v. Gore relies on Chief Justice Rehnquist's argument that overturning the decision of the FL Supreme Court was proper because its rulings were contrary to Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 of the US Constitution, which states, "Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature Thereof May Direct," electors for the offices of President & Vice President. Difficulties involved in the equal protection argument used by the five conservative justices to support their decision are examined in light of past cases. Although their rationale would require equal standards across different precincts, it is maintained that it could not demand adoption of any single standard, & therefore called for the case to be sent back to the FL Supreme Court for a final decision on the result of the vote. The rationale behind Rehnquist's alternative ground for decision is said to be much stronger because it involves alleged unconstitutional deviation from state law on the part of the FL Supreme Court. J. Lindroth

The evolution of redistricting case law is argued to have become increasingly confusing & internally inconsistent in each of the census cycles since Reynolds v. Sims. Historical analysis of the last forty years of redistricting law focuses on three principle dimensions of rules versus standards, activism versus restraint, & individual rights versus group rights by situating the current state law along a continuum of jurisprudence. Implications of the data indicate internal tension within the massive superstructure of constraint created by Court decisions on the issues of one person/one vote, political gerrymandering, racial gerrymandering, & Sections 2 & 5 of the Voting Rights Act. The authors conclude that, although current redistricters must abide by the rule of population equality, there may be room for legitimate departure from that rule. J. Harwell

In the article the role of the social pedagogue in the interaction of family as the first public step in a person's life is discussed. More than that, the family is considered as a social institute, which helps in the process of children's socialization, and where the first sustainable impressions about the world are formed. The author also reveals the role of school. The article discusses the problem of educating the younger generation in terms of relationships between families and schools, taking into account those features that are peculiar to different types of families in Russia.

Examines methods used by employers to locate, screen, & select new employees, drawing on data from the 1991 National Organizations Study. It is found that large establishments are more likely to recruit new employees through employment agencies, search for candidates for a longer period of time, & use tests more often. Further, differences in recruitment practices for different levels of the organization are found, with prestige positions most often filled through professional referrals & newspaper advertisments, & entailing more intense interviewing & reference-checking procedures than lesser positions. Sex differences are also found in occupations differing in sex composition, with typically female positions recruited through newspaper advertisement & employing less intense interviewing & testing procedures. Findings are consistent with the view that organizations use staffing methods that correspond to their available resources & anticipated risks & benefits associated with hiring decisions. Ambiguities in these findings & directions for future research are briefly considered. 6 Tables. D. M. Smith