From introduction: "The relationship between education and implementation of programs for the protection of rights and freedoms has been substantiated by the numerous documents produced by international conferences on human rights, such as; the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights , the 1978 UNESCO International Congress in Vienna on the Teaching of Human Rights , the Congress in Seville in 1986 and in Malta in 1987, the Seminar in Geneva in 1988 celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the World Conference in Vienna on Human Rights in 1993, the Montreal International Congress on Education for Human Rights and Democracy on 1993 , and many others."(.)
The main goal of this article is to present to the European reader the implications of the unstable relationships between the United States and an integrated Europe. The article focuses on the trade relations between the US and Europe in the globalization era. It explains the meaning of some basic terms used by trade experts, such as globalization, regionalization, glocalization, and strategic trade. The author also tries to explore the reasons for the recent crisis of global trade. The main part of the paper reviews the major disputes between these two regions which resulted in postponing of the negotiations of the Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement. As we have observed in the introduction of the article, the relationships between the European Union and the United States have always been complicated and the article presents the main reasons for these disagreements. In a time of renewed Trans-Atlantic negotiations, pro-American sentiments in Europe grew stronger, and European experts on trade and politics emphasized that the US significantly increased support for the European Deterrence Initiative (EDI). Still, with comments repeated by President Trump many times that "Europe needs its own army", the European media began warning the readers that the crisis in US-EU relations may soon return. ; ludwikowski@cua.edu ; Rett R. Ludwikowski – The Catholic University of America, professor of law at the Columbus School of Law since 1985 and the director of the International Business and Trade Summer Law Program in Cracow, Poland since 1991 and the director of Comparative and International Law Institute from 1985 to 2015. ; Catholic University of America, United States of America ; P. Barkham, European Union. The banana wars explained, "The Guardian", 03.05.1999. ; A. Chayes, T. Erhlich, A. Lowenfeld, "International Legal Process", Vol II, 1968. ; T.M. Cooley, The General Principles of the Constitutional Law in the United States of America, Boston, 1891. ; A.V. Deardorff , R.M. Stern, M.N. Greene, The Implications of Alternative Trade Strategies for the United States, [in:] The New International Economic Order. A U.S. Response, Nowy Jork 1979. ; D. Ikenson, Ending the "Chicken War". The Case for Abolishing the 25 Percent Truck Tariff, June 18, 2003, Center for Trade Policy Studies. ; D. Ikenson, Byrdening Relations: U.S. Trade Policies, Washington, D.C.: Cato Institute, 2003. ; J.H. Jackson, World Trade and the Law of the GATT, Indianapolis, 1968. ; J. Larik, Brexit and the Future of Transatlantic Relations Brexit Institute, 04, 2018. ; S. Lester and D. Ikenson, Core Principles for a U.S.-UK Free Trade Agreement, Cato Institute, 30.01.2020. ; R.R. Ludwikowski, Limits of Universalism: Protection of Human Rights in Europe and America in Historical and Comparative Perspective,"Politeja", 2/6/2006. ; R.R. Ludwikowski, Handel Międzynarodowy, IV Wyd. C.H. Beck, 2019. ; R. Małajny, Trzy Teorie Podzielonej Władzy, 2001. ; L. McGee, Cracks in the Trump-Europe relationship are turning into a chasm, 04.06.2020, CNN. ; L. Sek, Trade Retaliation: The 'Carousel' Approach, Congressional Research Service, 03.05.2002. ; J. Smith, The EU-US relationship is in crisis, The German Times, 03.2019. ; J. Worland, Trump Wants to Impose Steel Tariffs. It Didn't Work for Bush, Time, March 1, 2018. ; 25 ; 3 ; 27 ; 42
The article aims to investigate the effectiveness of the American system of "electoral democracy". Considering this problem from a comparative perspective, the author notes that the American system of "electoral college" has not become a universally accepted standard for countries with a federal system or states with ethnically strong regional centers. In essence, each presidential election in the United States which ended in the victory of one candidate in the general, popular election and the other in the Electoral College, resulted in inter-party conflicts, mass demonstrations of dissatisfaction of citizens disappointed by the US electoral system and even in the attempts to impeach the elected president. In conclusion, the 2016 elections have once again confirmed that the electoral system of presidential elections in the United States is too complex, in fact unnecessary, and certainly undermining the democratic character of the United States' Constitution.
The main goal of this article is to present to the European reader the implications of the crisis of the Chinese banking system, which peaked in August 2015, and triggered a period of high volatility in the U.S. stock market. As a result, trade relations between China and the U.S. have deteriorated, which raises the question of whether the Chinese economic system will implode and contribute to the global crisis, or whether it can be controlled by Beijing?The article assumes two things: that subsidies are at the core of U.S. criticism of Chinese trade priorities; and that to understand recent American-Chinese trade conflicts, we must first review the more general issue of American attitudes towards the subsidizing practices of non-market economies.The article will conclude with the observation that, in discussing the obvious points that China needs more market-oriented reforms and should be more open to U.S. trade priorities, we may overlook some other more important problems, such as differences in the business cultures of both countries. So, rather than forcing uncertain compromises, American and Chinese trade experts must develop better problem solving skills and discuss new fields of collaboration.
The vacancy arising as a result of the death of Antonin Scalia, one of the nine justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, paralyzed the Court's work for a few months. Even Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election did not immediately resolve the problem of political balance in the Court. This article, commenting on the stalemate over the Supreme Court, tries to answer some questions. Is the process of politicization of formally politically independent justices a natural result of mutual attrition of the authorities? Does the situation after Scalia's death undermine the separation of powers, a fundamental concept for the US system? In the author's opinion, the politicization of the US judicial system is not the beginning of a 'new era'. The impact of judicial decisions on politics, and the impact of political priorities on the line of case law is embedded in the US concept of checks and balances. The US Constitution establishes this system, but does not provide mechanisms that can unequivocally resolve the described above stalemate. The activity of federal judges is limited by the nomination process. The Constitution provides no deadline binding the President and the Senate to make a nomination decision and the Supreme Court itself has clearly stated that situations such as this one do not violate the Constitution.
[In Polish] The third edition has been updated and expanded especially in parts presenting the growing role of China as a trading partner of the United States, European Union and Japan. The author also analyzes the causes of the most serious current trade disputes concerning admissibility. For example, the imposition of countervailing duties on non-market countries subsidizing trade, the legality of parallel application of anti-dumping duties and penalties neutralizing the effects of subsidies, and possible state intervention in the currency markets for prohibited subsidies. ; https://scholarship.law.edu/fac_books/1039/thumbnail.jpg
[In Polish] This manual discusses the main currents of doctrinal Polish political thought from the early period of Polish modern history to the present. The author assumes that without the knowledge of political thought our knowledge of Polish history would be incomplete. The author has put a particular emphasis on the formative period of these trends (the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century) and the analysis of the so-called integral types, presenting the ideological base of each concept. ; https://scholarship.law.edu/fac_books/1040/thumbnail.jpg
This Article consists of four parts. The first, which is more general, addresses the question to what extent the system of governance adopted by the countries of the two regions affected the record of the states' protection of human rights. For instance, this Article considers whether democratization of the political system necessarily results in better protection of human rights. The second part analyzes the placement of human rights in the framework of the Latin American and post-Soviet constitutions. The third part identifies and discusses the problem of individual and group rights, an issue crucial for both regions. The fourth part provides a comparative analysis of the main categories of constitutionalized rights and freedoms. Although this part examines the general approach of the constitutional drafters to social, economic, and cultural rights, it focuses on so-called first category rights, such as personal freedoms and civil and political rights, as well as on enforcement mechanisms. The conclusion will supply observations on the most important lessons that constitutional drafters can learn from the experiences of others.
Commentators have often suggested that Latin American countries incorporate more features of parliamentary systems or experiment with "mixed" models of governance. This article presents arguments that such a recommendation should be carefully analyzed. First, the article demonstrates that, since the early stages of post-colonial history, the Latin American states modified U.S. presidentialism. The states have already experimented with many features of a parliamentary system, adopted a model of judicial review which was an amalgam of several well-known models, and wrestled with their own ethnic, cultural and legal problems not linked to the U.S. system of governance. Second, the article examines Western European and post-communist experiments with "mixed" models of governance, exposing some problems with their application. Third, it reviews some over-used arguments about the "less versus more" democratic character of presidentialism and parliamentarism. The article concludes with the observation that blending together constitutional features, produced by long-term practice in some countries, requires a deep comparative knowledge. The eclectic character of the "mixed constitutions" justifies concern over their consistency. The Latin American countries have already attempted to "mix" elements of presidentialism with parliamentarism and components of civil law and common law systems. The results were not always impressive, thus it is a good time to consider whether "less" rather than "more" mixing would be good for this region.
This article attempts to analyze to what extent the scope of executive privilege, constitutionally committed to the executive branch, is determined by judicial process or by purely political factors. It opens with a brief report on the process of formation of the Presidential model of government and the system of checks and balances in the United States. Focusing on the checks imposed on the Executive, this article distinguishes those restraints that are clearly constitutionalized, or stemming from judicial determination of their constitutionality, and those which are the result of judicial interpretation of the beneficial aspects of public policy or political decisions of the Congress. It then concludes with the observation that the flexibility built into the Constitution by ambiguous language or simply by the gaps left by the Framers, does not always result in a healthy process of the parliamentary implementation of the Constitution. In contrast, such ambiguities actually may lead to awkward political meddling with the constitutional concept of presidential government, affecting the integrity of the Constitution.
Part I of this Article discusses the difficulties involved in attempting to classify the new constitutions using traditional criteria. Part II examines the processes involved in the adoption of the various components of existing constitutional models into the constitutions of the East-Central European states, including separate analysis of the distributions of power, the structures of the legislatures, the electoral systems, the systems of governance and mechanisms of judicial enforcement provided by these instruments. Finally, Part III makes observations and draws conclusions regarding the processes examined in Part II.
With the end of the Cold War and the disintegration of the Soviet Union, newly formed governments throughout Eastern Europe and the former Soviet states have created constitutions that provide legal frameworks for the transition to free markets and democracy. In Constitution-Making in the Region of Former Soviet Dominance, Rett R. Ludwikowski offers a comparative study of constitution-making in progress and provides insight into the complex political and social circumstances that are shaping its present and future. The first study of these recent constitutional developments, this book also provides an appendix of all newly ratified constitutions in the region, an essential new reference source for scholars, students, and professionals. Beginning with a review of the constitutional traditions of Eastern and Central Europe, Ludwikowski goes on to offer analysis of the recent process of political change in the region. A second section focuses specifically on the the new constitutions and such issues as the selection of the form of government, concepts of divisions of power, unicameralism vs. bicameralism, the flexibility or rigidity of constitutions as working documents, and the process of reviewing the constitutionality of laws. Individual states as framed in these documents are analyzed in economic, political, and cultural terms. Although it is too soon to fully consider the implementation of these constitutions, special attention is devoted to the effect of reform on human rights protection, a notorious problem of continuing concern in the region. A final section offers an insightful comparative study of constitutional law by reviewing the post-Soviet process of constitution-making against the backdrop of Western constitutional traditions. Constitution-Making in the Region of Former Soviet Dominance is both a comprehensive study of constitutional developments in the former Soviet bloc and a primary reference tool for scholars of constitutional law, and Eastern European and post-Soviet studies. ; https://scholarship.law.edu/fac_books/1085/thumbnail.jpg
The article consists of two parts. The first is the update of constitutional transformation in the region experiencing the retreat from communism. The organization of this part requires some explanation. The part breaks down into two separate chapters on constitution-drafting in former Soviet Republics and in the new democracies of East-Central Europe. As the former Soviet republics existed within the same statehood until the end of 1991, it seemed appropriate to assemble comments on political developments in the former U.S.S.R in one subchapter examining the end of Gorbachev's era and the process of the establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The country-by-country discussion which follows is limited to the examination of the process of constitutional-drafting in several former Soviet Republics. The comments on the constitutional drafts were organized around several more important issues such as the distribution of powers, the inclination to adopt features of presidential or parliamentary systems, constitutional enforcement, and the flexibility of the constitutional provisions. The subchapter on Constitution Drafting in Former Socialist States of East-Central Europe has a slightly different organization. It focuses exclusively on individual countries of post-socialist Europe with the exception of Yugoslavia where the unstable political situation at the time of this writing does not allow any mature evaluation of a future constitutional system. With all similarities linked to common socialist legacies, the former European Peoples Democracies each had their own statehood and more recently have faced different cultural, religious, economic and ethnic problems. It seemed more appropriate to examine their post-communist traumas separately. Thus, each country-by-country section of this subchapter splits into a short report on political developments and a commentary on the process of constitution-drafting. The reader who is looking for an explanation of the references made in Part I to French, German or other constitutional models will find them presented in Part II on a more detailed basis. Being more theoretical than Part I of the article, Part II reviews the major constitutional controversies of the post-communist world against the background of deeply-rooted Western constitutional ideas. The primary aim of the second part of this article is to analyze the fabric of the new constitutions. This part focuses on the issues which proved to be most controversial during the process of constitution drafting in East-Central Europe, such as the description of the state in economic, political and cultural terms; the selection of the form of government; the concepts of the division of powers; the review of the constitutionality of laws; and the idea of a constitution being rigid or flexible. Although a long and exhaustive bill of rights can be found in all new constitutions and constitutional drafts, a more detailed analysis has to be based on the examination of the actual record of these countries in human rights protection. This task was left for a separate study. Finally, based on the information collected from the country-by-country reports, Part II also supplies observations on the process of forming a new constitutional model in the region of former communist dominance.
