Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Majority Rule'

This thesis uses a counterfactual simulation to estimate the impact that applying the double majority rule would have had on legislative productivity in the Province of Canada, 1840-1867. The double majority rule was supermajoritarian in nature, and if applied would have required two sectional majorities from the administrative regions within the province to pass legislation. The thesis compares a constructed dataset where votes could only pass with a double majority to the observed data, arguing that applying the double majority rule would have reduced legislative productivity. There is weak statistical evidence found supporting gridlock interval size as the causal explanation for the decreased productivity, but this is argued to be due to abnormal status quo points and the potential for voting patterns to collapse from two ideological dimensions to one. Finally, the introduction of responsible government is found to not influence whether votes were passed with a double majority. This is explained through the partisan capacity hypothesis, which argues that supermajoritarian rules are ignored when they would prevent a government from implementing its legislative agenda. These conclusions argue that the historical literature was correct that applying the double majority rule would have reduced productivity, but wrong about the impact of responsible government on passing votes with double majorities.
Arts, Faculty of
Political Science, Department of
Graduate

In this study I analyse the performance of a democratic decision-making rule: the weighted majority rule. It assigns to each voter a number of votes that is proportional to her stakes in the decision. It has been shown that, for collective decisions with two options, the weighted majority rule in combination with self-interested voters maximises the common good when the latter is understood in terms of either the sum-total or prioritarian sum of the voters’ well-being. The main result of my study is that this argument for the weighted majority rule — that it maximises the common good — can be improved along the following three main lines. (1) The argument can be adapted to other criteria of the common good, such as sufficientarian, maximin, leximin or non-welfarist criteria. I propose a generic argument for the collective optimality of the weighted majority rule that works for all of these criteria. (2) The assumption of self-interested voters can be relaxed. First, common-interest voters can be accommodated. Second, even if voters are less than fully competent in judging their self-interest or the common interest, the weighted majority rule is weakly collectively optimal, that is, it almost certainly maximises the common good given a large numbers of voters. Third, even for smaller groups of voters, the weighted majority rule still has some attractive features. (3) The scope of the argument can be extended to decisions with more than two options. I state the conditions under which the weighted majority rule maximises the common good even in multi-option contexts. I also analyse the possibility and the detrimental effects of strategic voting. Furthermore, I argue that self-interested voters have reason to accept the weighted majority rule.

Principally, joint stock companies are governed by the principle of majority rule, which means that while they are formed and continue to work through participation of every shareholder, only those who hold a majority of voting shares can make decisions in companies. The principle relies on contract and is often supported by company law. In the main, it is advantageous to companies, the Judiciary and the economy. It facilitates collective action, allows management to focus on the daily running of the company business and encourages corporate financing, which is decisively important for corporations. It also saves, by curbing minority actions, the courts’ time and the public budget. In one sense, however, it can also be dangerous to the rights and interests of minority shareholders. Using the majority rule, majority shareholders may fix for themselves private benefits or adopt policies which are poor and consequently harmful to companies. Such danger could discourage likely investors from investing their capital in companies and might undermine one of the main purposes of the corporation as an institution introduced by law and business practice to solve problems encountered in raising substantial amounts of capital. This research seeks to study in the light of English and Iranian company laws difficulties deriving from application of the majority rule for minority shareholders and possible ways and mechanisms which can be used to sensibly curb the occurrence of such difficulties. To this objective, it identifies four factors which can explain how and why the rule is liable to abuse by majority shareholders and examines the mechanisms provided by company laws of England and Iran which attempt to strike a balance between the rule of majority and interests of minority shareholders.

The United States began pursuing a transition to majority rule in Rhodesia in 1976 by Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Kissinger had noted the situation in Rhodesia already in 1969 but chose to pursue majority rule in order to de-escalate the armed conflict in Rhodesia and to avoid a Cold War confrontation in the region similar to the Angolan civil war. Kissinger closely cooperated with the British and started a diplomatic process which aimed to bring majority rule to the country. Kissinger’s biggest accomplishment regarding the Rhodesian quest for majority rule came in September 1979 when Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith publicly embraced majority rule for the first time. A conference in Geneva was set up that fall led by the British but it was unsuccesful and did not lead to a transition. Jimmy Carter won the United States Presidential elections of 1976 and was inaugurated in 1977 marking an end to Kissinger’s role in US foreign policy. The Carter administration continued to pursue majority rule in Rhodesia and continued where Kissinger had left off. However the Carter administration had an emphasis on human rights which lead to the new administration working more closely with the Zimbabwean nationalists and neighboring Presidents compared to Kissinger who had closely cooperated with South Africa. The Carter administration also continued to closely work together with the British and tried to keep the momentum alive achieved by Kissinger in 1976. The Carter administration met with several setbacks and did not reach major breakthroughs regarding Rhodesia. The Smith regime of Rhodesia agreed to an internal settlement with some of the Zimbabwean nationalists which lead to the forming of the Zimbabwe-Rhodesian state in 1979. Although the new administration was not internationally recognized, it was a majority ruled country chosen by a general election that did not meet international criteria. At this point several domestic factors in the US combined with the newly appointed British Government led to the US pulling back from actively taking part to finding a solution to the conflict. Finally in 1980 after months of negotiating between the British, the Smith regime and the African nationalists of Rhodesia a general election was held and the new majority ruled state of Zimbabwe was founded
Yhdysvallat pyrki edesauttamaan Rhodesian siirtymistä enemmistövaltaan ensimmäistä kertaa vuonna 1976 silloisen ulkoministeri Henry Kissingerin toimesta. Yhdysvaltojen johtohahmot olivat huomioineet enemmistövaltaan siirtymisen vaikutukset Rhodesiassa jo vuonna 1969 mutta eivät nähneet syytä toimia asian suhteen. Seitsemän vuotta myöhemmin pääasiassa geopoliittiset syyt ja kylmänsodan eskaloitumisen pelko ajoivat Kissingerin aktiivisesti kampanjoimaan enemmistövaltaan siirtymisen puolesta etsien diplomaattista ratkaisua aseelliseen konfliktiin. Kissinger toimi vahvasti yhteistyössä Iso-Britannian kanssa kaikissa Rhodesiaan liittyvissä toimissa, sillä virallisesti alue oli yhä Iso-Britannian siirtomaa. Vuoden 1976 diplomatia johti rhodesian pääministeri Ian Smithin puheeseen syyskuussa, jossa Smith ensimmäistä kertaa julkisesti tunnusti enemmistövaltaan siirtymisen välttämättömäksi. Neuvottelut johtivat Iso-Britannian isännöimään konferenssiin, johon osallistuivat kaikki Rhodesian konfliktin osapuolet. Konferenssi ei onnistunut löytämään ratkaisuja keskeisiin kysymyksiin ja päättyi tuloksettomana vuoden lopussa. Kissinger väistyi ulkopolitiikasta presidentti Carterin voitettua Fordin syksyn 1976 vaaleissa ja astuessa virkaan 1970 helmikuussa. Carterin hallinto jatkoi pitkältä edeltäjiensä viitoittamalla tiellä pyrkiessään saavuttamaan enemmistövallan Rhodesiaan. Vaikka Carterin hallinto piti kylmänsodan eskaloitumista yhä vaarana, se samaan aikaan painotti ihmisoikeuksia joka näkyi erilaisena lähestimystapana Rhodesiaan liittyvässä diplomatiassa verrattuna Kissingeriin. Siinä missä Kissinger oli pääasiassa koordinoinut Etelä-Afrikan ja Rhodesian naapurivaltojen kanssa, Carterin hallinto oli laajemmin suoraan yhteydessä zimbabwelaisiin nationalisteihin. Carterin hallinto oli Etelä-Afrikan apartheidin vastustaja joka osaltaan heikensi maiden välejä myös Rhodesiaan liittyvissä kysymyksissä. Carterin hallinto koordinoi erittäin tiiviisti Iso-Britannian kanssa yrittäessään saavuttaa enemmistövaltaan siirtyminen Rhodesiassa niin pian kuin mahdollista. Kovasta yrityksestä huolimatta anglo-amerikkalainen yhteistyö kohtasi useita vastoinkäymisiä niin sisäpoliittisesti, kuin ulkopoliittisesti. Vuosien 1977 ja 1978 aikana järjestettiin useita pienempiä neuvotteluita Rhodesian tilanteeseen liittyen mutta suurempi kaikkien osapuolien välinen siirtymään pohjaava konferenssi jäi toteutumatta. Samanaikaisesti Rhodesian pääministeri Ian Smith pyrki saavuttamaan niin kutsutun sisäisen ratkaisun maltillisten nationalistien kesken, jossa siirtymävaihe ja sen hallinto sovittaisiin ilman ulkovaltoja tai aseelliseen konfliktiin osallistuvia nationalisteja. Vuonna 1979 sisäisen ratkaisun pohjalta Rhodesia muutti nimensä Zimbabwe-Rhodesiaksi ja järjesti vaalit, joissa maalle valittiin enemmistövaltainen hallitus. Kansainvälinen yhteisö ei kuitenkaan tunnustanut tätä valtiota ja maata vastaan asetetut taloudelliset pakotteet pysyivät voimassa. Yhdysvaltojen aktiivinen osallistuminen Rhodesiaan liittyen päättyi vuoteen 1979 ja Iso-Britannian uusi hallitus jatkoi neuvotteluja Yhdysvaltojen tuella mutta ilman sen aktiivista osallistumista prosessiin. Lopulta neuvottelut johtivat avoimiin äänestyksiin ja vuonna 1980 kansainvälisesti tunnustettu ja enemmistövaltainen Zimbabwen valtio perustettiin

My thesis is an exploration into the social dynamics of village formation amongst the Ngobe, a process which begun in the 1970's. This represents a dramatic change from their 400 year old settlement pattern, whereby kin groups as the ultimate locus of power within the society, lived in autonomous hamlets dispersed across , The rugged tropical terrain. Focusing on one particular community called Bisira I show how its locals, as residents in a concentrated community, while retaining their kin group membership, establish relationships of friendship amongst themselves based on trust, generosity, fecundity and respect and transgress kinship boundaries. I argue that the Ngobe have been forming communities whose internal 'configuration' reflects and replicates their stateless society, without thus becoming loci where power has the potential to accumulate in the hands of a few. The ethnography presented in this thesis explores a number of interrelated issues that can help us understand social change in Ngobe society. In the thesis I investigate (a) how the Ngobe in recent years have successfully organized to fend off the state in its attempts to develop open-pit mining and hydro-electric damming in their land. I address how the Ngobe leaders negotiate amongst themselves and between the state arguing that the fabric of their stateless society, while under severe threat by the state, still remains acephalous, multi-centered and non-hierarchical; (b) A successful Malaria Project which was implemented by PAHO in 2006 as prime example of the 'generative culture' of the Ngobe on the community level since through collective and voluntary work Bisira went from having one of the highest cases of Malaria in the country to none within two years after its implementation; (c) How informal ritualistic boxing Jamete solidifies relationships and forms brothers out of others. I also address (d) the importance of working at the plantations (as an experience of discrimination) had in enhancing solidarity, and the influence that the Mama Chi millenarian, reformist, nativistic movement -which appeared in the 1960's-had in bringing the women (within one generation) to have the same public rights as the men, while concurrently establishing the idea of a Pan-Nqobe-sister-brotherhood: and (e) the effects of schooling, party politics, and Christianity on the local culture and how aspects of modernity are consumed, rejected, desired or ignored by the locals. Several narratives are presented whereby the Ngobe voice, formally or informally, their views from family affairs to community formation. These narratives are in turn complemented by an anthropological analysis of the context at hand, and interpretations of particular events which make that context meaningful. Concurrently the thesis highlights the 'mundane' and subtle aspects of daily living: body postures, gestures, breathing, reflecting, tone of voice, the tone of silence, the unwritten laws about laws, the insignificant, or as Malinowski puts it, 'the manner of taking food and preparing it: the tone of conversational and social life around the village fires."

This thesis examines, in comparative terms, Canadian and Nigerian laws relating to the concept of corporate majority rule and minority protection from majority opportunism and oppression in private corporations. The key shareholder remedies of derivative actions and oppression are comparatively discussed, with highlights of the similarities and differences in both remedies under Canadian and Nigerian laws. From theoretical perspectives, this thesis examines the theory that considers the corporation a nexus for a set of contracting relationships among parties. It also considers the proprietary conceptualisation of the corporation. Another theory sees the corporation as an agency relationship between two individuals with differing goals and interests. Lastly, the legal personality theory of the corporation, which considers the corporation a legal person capable of acquiring rights and assuming obligations, is discussed. Understanding of these theories gives better insights into reasons why conflicts arise amongst corporate stakeholders. A comparative appraisal of the key minority shareholder remedies of oppression and derivative actions under Canadian and Nigerian corporate laws reveals certain areas of convergence and other areas of uniqueness. This work demonstrates that the shareholder remedies available in the two jurisdictions are very similar in nature and, in most cases, known by the same names. However, there are some differences bordering on, among others, proper parties to commence shareholder litigations, length of pre-action notice, and the codification of common law rules into the corporate statute. For instance, while Nigeria statutorily incorporates the common law rule in Foss v. Harbottle and its exceptions into its corporate law, Canada only utilises the rule for historical and analytical purposes. This thesis advocates a reconsideration of the minority shareholder remedy of derivative actions with regard to close corporations, and the absence of a principled test for determination of liability under the oppression remedy. The attitude of the courts has always been to treat each case according to its peculiar facts. It is further suggested that the courts could, in the exercise of their discretion, liberally interpret the provisions of current corporate statutes to include discretionary, non-traditional corporate stakeholders, such as the environment, as beneficiaries of the dynamic remedy of oppression.
Law, Faculty of
Graduate

Este trabalho investiga as relações entre a regra da maioria e o princípio do dano de John Stuart Mill. Em suma, seu objetivo é descobrir de que maneira o princípio do dano funciona como um limite à regra da maioria. Diante disso, ao longo desta dissertação, examinam-se as dificuldades enfrentadas por Mill para conciliar utilitarismo e democracia, liberdade e razão. Este trabalho analisa, também, algumas ideias permanentemente presentes na reflexão histórica sobre o liberalismo: os conceitos de liberdade positiva e liberdade negativa; os diversos conceitos de paternalismo; e as muitas críticas dirigidas à regra da maioria
This investigation studies the link between the majority rule and the harm principle by John Stuart Mill. To sum up, the purpose is to find out how the harm principle operates as a limit on majority rule. As a result, throughout this study, we examine the difficulties faced by Mill to reconcile utilitarianism and democracy, liberty and reason. This dissertation analyzes, still, some ideas that were constantly present in historical reflection about liberalism: the concept of the positive liberty and the concept of negative liberty; the various concepts of paternalism; and the many criticisms of the majority rule.

Collective decision making can be seen as a means of designing and understanding swarm robotics systems. While decision-making is generally conceived as the cognitive ability of individual agents to select a belief based only on their preferences and available information, collective decision making is a decentralized cognitive process, whereby an ensemble of agents gathers, shares, and processes information as a single organism and makes a choice that is not attributable to any of its individuals. A principled selection of the rules governing this cognitive process allows the designer to define, shape, and foresee the dynamics of the swarm.We begin this monograph by introducing the reader to the topic of collective decision making. We focus on artificial systems for discrete consensus achievement and review the literature of swarm robotics. In this endeavor, we formalize the best-of-n problem—a generalization of the logic underlying several cognitive problems—and define a taxonomy of its possible variants that are of interest for the design of robot swarms. By leveraging on this understanding, we identify the building-blocks that are essential to achieve a collective decision addressing the best-of-n problem: option exploration, opinion dissemination, modulation of positive feedback, and individual decision-making mechanism. We show how a modular perspective of a collective decision-making strategy allows for the systematic modeling of the resulting swarm performance. In doing so, we put forward a modular and model-driven design methodology that allows the designer to study the dynamics of a swarm at different level of abstractions. Successively, we employ the proposed design methodology to derive and to study different collective decision-making strategies for the best-of-n problem. We show how the designed strategies can be readily applied to different real-world scenarios by performing two series of robot experiments. In the first series, we use a swarm of 100 robots to tackle a site-selection scenario; in the second series, we show instead how the same strategies apply to a collective perception scenario. We conclude with a discussion of our research contributions and provide futuredirection of research.
Doctorat en Sciences de l'ingénieur et technologie
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

A tese propõe uma análise multidisciplinar e dogmática da arbitragem societária, notadamente do processo de inclusão de cláusula compromissória no estatuto social de sociedades anônimas fechadas, com base em uma deliberação assemblear tomada pela regra da maioria (fase pré-arbitral). O ponto de partida do trabalho é o exame da dimensão jurídica do contrato de sociedade aliado à verificação dos limites da autonomia privada dos sócios na definição da estrutura do negócio jurídico societário, à compreensão da categoria dos direitos subjetivos e dos traços fundamentais que formam a tipologia das anônimas fechadas, incluindo o tratamento dado aos direitos individuais dos acionistas. Ato contínuo, desloca-se a discussão para as esferas arbitral e constitucional, com especial atenção para os pressupostos da arbitragem como método de resolução de conflitos. O cerne do trabalho reside na relação entre a situação subjetiva ativa do acionista de manifestar sua vontade favorável ou contrariamente à escolha da arbitragem e a eficácia da regra da maioria como pilar de funcionamento das sociedades anônimas. Sustenta-se que a escolha da arbitragem constitui um direito fundamental de todo o acionista, cuja renúncia depende de manifestação, expressa ou tácita, de sua vontade, a qual não pode ser elidida ou alterada pelo estatuto ou pela assembleia geral majoritária sem o seu consentimento. Após examinar as correntes doutrinárias sobre o tema no Brasil e as possíveis alternativas para resolver o imbróglio, o estudo concluiu que a alteração legislativa que cria uma hipótese adicional de recesso representa a melhor solução para a problemática.
The thesis examines arbitration in corporate law, namely the inclusion of a statutory arbitration clause in the by-laws of a closely held corporation based on a deliberation taken by the majority rule (pre-arbitration phase). The study starts by analyzing the legal aspects of the corporate contract together with the limits of shareholders autonomy in defining the structure of such contract and the characteristics that form the typology of corporations, including shareholders individual rights. The discussion then moves on the arbitration and constitutional spheres, particularly to the premises of arbitration as a form of settling conflicts. The core of the thesis is the relation between the prerogative of a shareholder to express its will in favor of or against arbitration and the incidence of the full effects of the majority rule as an essential element in the structure of a corporation. The study sustains that the choice for arbitration is a fundamental right of all shareholders, which is why renunciation depends on their express or tacit individual manifestation and therefore, majority deliberation cannot in itself insert or remove it from by-laws. Finally, the thesis provides different scholars understandings on the issue as well as the main possible alternatives to dealt with it. The creation of an additional hypothesis of appraisal right within the existing law is suggested as the best solution to solve this conundrum.

Notion fondamentale du droit des sociétés, la collégialité est souvent réduite aux organes sociaux, voire cantonnée au processus de formation des décisions collectives. L'étude tend à dépasser la dimension institutionnelle du pouvoir collégial. Il s'agit de rechercher, en dépit de la diversité des collèges, les fondements, l'unité, le régime, les limites et la valeur de la collégialité en tant que notion et pratique. À cette fin, il convient d'envisager autant l'organisation collégiale que le fonctionnement collégial. Il en résulte que toute collégialité suppose une pluralité de personnes ou des collèges (au moins deux) (1) qui ensemble et à égalité par voie de délibération en concertation (2), poursuivent la réalisation d'un projet commun ou l'exécution d'une mission commune (3). Toutefois il existe deux catégories de collégialité selon ce qui fait l'unité du collège: projet commun (associés) ; fonction ou mission commune (autres organes). Ce qui fait l'unité du collège influence la nature et l'intensité des droits et obligations que toute organisation collégiale suppose pour ses membres. Il en est de même du fonctionnement. Unitaire en ce qu'il renvoie au processus de formation de l'acte collectif unilatéral, le fonctionnement collégial suppose des techniques variables selon chaque figure. Enfin, la collégialité est-elle un principe du droit des sociétés ? Pour les associés, cela est certain : la collégialité renvoie au groupement qu'ils forment, organisation et fonctionnement, sans qu'une prévision en ce sens ne soit nécessaire. Pour les autres organes la réponse est variable. Elle n'est un principe d'organisation et de fonctionnement qu'autant qu'une norme l'impose
Collegiality, as the pivotal concept in corporate law, is often limited to the corporate bodies, if not confined to the collective decision-making process. The study tends to go beyond the institutional dimesion of the collegial authority. The aim is to investigate the foundations, the unity, the ambit, the limits and the value of collegiality as both a notion and a practice, in spite of the variety of colleges. To this end, the collegial organization and function should be considered equally. As a result, collegiality means a plurality of persons or colleges (at least two) (1) who, together and equally by conciliated deliberation (2), promote the realization of a collaborative project or the performance of a shared mission (3). However, there are two types of collegiality as defined by the college's unity itself: there are collaborative projects (partners) ; and shared missions or functions (other bodies). The essence and the strength of rights and obligations to each of the members is influenced by what makes the unity of a college. The same thing goes for the way in which the collegial organization functions. It will function in a unitary manner for unilateral establishment and collective acts. A collegial functioning, on the other hand, supposes flexible and adjustable techniques. Finally is collegiality a principle of corporate law ? For the partners this is obvious: collegiality is intrinsic to the group they constitute, to the organization and to their functioning, without having to plan it. For the other bodies the answer may vary. Collegiality is only a principle of organization and functioning if a norm requires it to be

A favorable condition for good governance is that elected presidents obtain the support of both the median voter and the median legislator. Several electoral rules are evaluated for their results in 111 presidential and 137 congressional elections in 18 Latin American countries during the current democratic periods. The frequency of median voter’s or Condorcet-winner presidents appears to be higher under rules with a second-round runoff than under simple plurality rule. The victory of Condorcet-loser or the most rejected candidate is discarded under majority runoff rule. More than half of democratic presidents have not belonged to the median voter’s party in the presidential or the congressional elections. Many of them have faced wide popular and political opposition and entered into inter-institutional conflict.
Una condición favorable para la gobernabilidad es que el presidente electo obtenga el apoyo tanto del elector mediano como del legislador mediano. Por ello, se evalúan las reglas y resul- tados electorales en 111 elecciones presidenciales y 137 elecciones parlamentarias en 18 países en América Latina durante el actual periodo democrático. La frecuencia de presidentes elegidos por los electores medianos o ganadores parece ser más alta cuando las reglas implican una segunda vuelta electoral. La victoria del perdedor de Condorcet, o el candidato con más anticuerpos en los votantes, queda descartada bajo el sistema de mayoría simple electoral. Más de la mitad de los presidentes electos no pertenecieron al partido del votante mediano en las elecciones presidenciales o congresales. Muchos de esos gobernantes se han enfrentado a una amplia oposiciónpolítica y popular y han ingresado a un conflicto interinstitucional.

Notion fondamentale du droit des sociétés, la collégialité est souvent réduite aux organes sociaux, voire cantonnée au processus de formation des décisions collectives. L'étude tend à dépasser la dimension institutionnelle du pouvoir collégial. Il s'agit de rechercher, en dépit de la diversité des collèges, les fondements, l'unité, le régime, les limites et la valeur de la collégialité en tant que notion et pratique. À cette fin, il convient d'envisager autant l'organisation collégiale que le fonctionnement collégial. Il en résulte que toute collégialité suppose une pluralité de personnes ou des collèges (au moins deux) (1) qui ensemble et à égalité par voie de délibération en concertation (2), poursuivent la réalisation d'un projet commun ou l'exécution d'une mission commune (3). Toutefois il existe deux catégories de collégialité selon ce qui fait l'unité du collège: projet commun (associés) ; fonction ou mission commune (autres organes). Ce qui fait l'unité du collège influence la nature et l'intensité des droits et obligations que toute organisation collégiale suppose pour ses membres. Il en est de même du fonctionnement. Unitaire en ce qu'il renvoie au processus de formation de l'acte collectif unilatéral, le fonctionnement collégial suppose des techniques variables selon chaque figure. Enfin, la collégialité est-elle un principe du droit des sociétés ? Pour les associés, cela est certain : la collégialité renvoie au groupement qu'ils forment, organisation et fonctionnement, sans qu'une prévision en ce sens ne soit nécessaire. Pour les autres organes la réponse est variable. Elle n'est un principe d'organisation et de fonctionnement qu'autant qu'une norme l'impose
Collegiality, as the pivotal concept in corporate law, is often limited to the corporate bodies, if not confined to the collective decision-making process. The study tends to go beyond the institutional dimesion of the collegial authority. The aim is to investigate the foundations, the unity, the ambit, the limits and the value of collegiality as both a notion and a practice, in spite of the variety of colleges. To this end, the collegial organization and function should be considered equally. As a result, collegiality means a plurality of persons or colleges (at least two) (1) who, together and equally by conciliated deliberation (2), promote the realization of a collaborative project or the performance of a shared mission (3). However, there are two types of collegiality as defined by the college's unity itself: there are collaborative projects (partners) ; and shared missions or functions (other bodies). The essence and the strength of rights and obligations to each of the members is influenced by what makes the unity of a college. The same thing goes for the way in which the collegial organization functions. It will function in a unitary manner for unilateral establishment and collective acts. A collegial functioning, on the other hand, supposes flexible and adjustable techniques. Finally is collegiality a principle of corporate law ? For the partners this is obvious: collegiality is intrinsic to the group they constitute, to the organization and to their functioning, without having to plan it. For the other bodies the answer may vary. Collegiality is only a principle of organization and functioning if a norm requires it to be

In this interdisciplinary thesis I will be arguing that new configurations of state discrimination have outrun the vocabularies of liberal multiculturalism and secularism. These `majoritarianisms' are parasitic on the creeping foreclosure of secular spaces and identities from which emergent antiracist and antifascist struggles can be mounted. State multiculturalism in Britain and India has been instrumental in fertilising the sectarian soil in which the secular has decomposed. They have patronised cultural separateness only to make capital from the isolation of ethnic blocs from mainstream society by expressing exasperation at the reluctance of minorities to `integrate'. The faith and ethnic communities consolidated under the multiculturalist `management' of diversity have grown bereft of a political culture with which to interrogate the racist state. The privileging of cultural consciousness has been at the expense of political consciousness and an understanding of how discrimination cuts across cultural lines. The crisis of the secular is therefore simultaneously also a crisis of citizenship. The thesis opens with chapters that draw on sociological research and political commentary to assess the differing forms of majoritarianism and crises of citizenship in Britain and India respectively. In the third chapter I approach these issues through the prism of postcolonial theory using Gayatri Spivak's rehabilitation of responsibility as a collective right (2003) to arrive at a contemporary expression of political education. In the final two chapters I apply these principles to bring the multicultural and the secular into `productive crisis' in Indian and British contexts by circumventing the orthodox divisions that characterise intellectual approaches to anti-racism and antifascism. I argue that there is a role for a modified understanding of multiculturalism in the recovery of the secular. I conclude therefore that renewing secular culture is predicated on the Left's ability to reaffirm the reciprocity between political consciousness, citizenship and struggles for racial, ethnic and religious equality.

Les théories du choix social et de la décision multicritère sont fertiles en résultats paradoxaux. C'est à l'étude de quelques-uns d'entre eux qu'est consacrée cette thèse. Nous montrons tout d'abord les liens étroits entre ces deux domaines de recherche. Nous passons alors en revue les principaux paradoxes rencontrés dans ces deux domaines et tentons de classifier les méthodes utilisées pour les expliquer. Nous nous attaquons à notre tour à quatre types de paradoxes. L'étude des restrictions imposées par certaines conditions de transitivité de la méthode majoritaire donne des résultats surprenants. Nous les analysons en introduisant la notion de polydiversité. La règle de prudence (minimax) ne respecte pas l'axiome de cohérence. De plus, les vainqueurs prudents peuvent aussi être des vaincus prudents. Ces paradoxes liés à la prudence sont étudiés théoriquement, en particulier en utilisant la représentation géométrique des profils, et expérimentalement à l'aide de simulations. Pour certaines méthodes, l'amélioration de la position d'un candidat dans la préférence d'un votant peut conduire à une dégradation de sa situation du point de vue de la société. Nous analysons ce paradoxe en détail, en particulier pour les méthodes de rangement construites en itérant une fonction de choix. Nous terminons en étudiant la sensibilité de la méthode prudente et de la méthode de Borda à une variation du poids des critères. La comparaison des valeurs des indicateurs proposés donne des résultats inattendus.

Les sociétés sont traditionnellement classées en sociétés de personnes et sociétés de capitaux. L’intuitus personae constitue le fondement sur lequel repose cette distinction. Fort présent dans les sociétés de personnes, l’intuitus personae serait, en théorie, absent dans les sociétés de capitaux. Toutefois, cette distinction classique ne correspond plus, aujourd’hui, à la réalité. Nous assistons, en effet, à la résurgence de la considération de la personne dans les sociétés de capitaux à travers le développement de techniques contractuelles dont le but est de contrôler l’accès à ces sociétés. Ce mouvement de personnalisation a été renforcé par le législateur, d’abord, par la création de la société par actions simplifiée, mais aussi par la reconnaissance, dans les sociétés cotées, de la notion de concert ou encore d’un droit de sortie au profit des actionnaires minoritaires. La consécration de la validité de l’exclusion, qu’elle soit conventionnelle ou le résultat d’un mécanisme spécifique du droit des sociétés comme le retrait obligatoire ou le coup d’accordéon, participe également de ce phénomène. Cette présence a des conséquences majeures sur le fonctionnement de ces sociétés, mais aussi sur le droit des sociétés en général. En effet, d’une part, la reconnaissance de la primauté des relations entre actionnaires sur les capitaux offre une nouvelle perspective de la notion d’affectio societatis et du principe majoritaire. Et d’autre part, la mise en oeuvre de l’intuitus personae dans des sociétés dans lesquelles il est censé être absent affecte la cohérence même du droit des sociétés en anéantissant la summa divisio sur laquelle ce droit est bâti et en dénaturant le choix du pluralisme juridique, fait de longue date par le législateur français, qui commande en présence d’une pluralité de structures offertes aux opérateurs, une distinction de chacune d’elles reposant sur des critères précis et invariables
Companies are traditionally classified into partnerships and joint stock companies. Intuitus personae is the basis for this distinction. Clearly present in partnership companies, intuitus personae is, in theory, absent in joint stock companies. However, this traditional distinction does not correspond today to reality. We are, in fact, witnessing a resurgence of the consideration of the individual in joint stock companies by means of contractual techniques whose aim is to control access to these companies. This resurgence has been further strengthened by the legislator, first by the creation of the status of simplified stock company and also by the recognition in listed companies of the existence of concerted action and a right to voluntary withdrawal benefiting minority stockholders. The admission of the validity of exclusion, either conventional or resulting from mechanisms specific to company law such as a squeeze out or even an “accordion squeeze”, add to the growth of this phenomenon. This presence of intuitus personae has major implications on the functioning of joint stock companies and on company law, in general. Indeed, on the one hand, the primacy of shareholder relationships over capital offers a new perspective of the notion of affectio societatis and the principle of majority rule. On the other hand, the introduction of intuitus personae into companies where this concept should have been absent affects the coherence of company law by destroying the summa divisio basis on which this law is founded and by distorting the legal pluralism long ago adopted by the French legislator which, in the presence of diverse legal structures, necessitates a distinction amongst them based on precise and invariable criteria

Le droit de vote est la prérogative politique suprême de l’associé. Si de nombreux débats se sont intéressés à son caractère essentiel et à ses conditions d’attribution, peu de réflexions se sont concentrées sur ses modalités d’exercice. Celles-ci font pourtant l’originalité de ce droit individuel qui ne peut s’exercer que collectivement et sont déterminantes de son effectivité, lui qui ne peut se manifester qu’épisodiquement au gré des réunions de la collectivité des associés. La recherche des principes gouvernant son exercice, sujet méconnu car relevant surtout de la pratique, devrait permettre de mieux cerner sa portée. Sur le plan individuel, le principe essentiel est celui de la liberté du vote, qui peut même neutraliser partiellement les règles de son attribution, comme en cas d’abstention ou d’activisme actionnarial. Cette liberté suppose toutefois que l’intégrité du vote et son caractère éclairé soient préservés. Or il peut être altéré par des pressions extérieures, motivées par la valeur économique du droit de vote, ce qui requiert des dispositifs renforcés de protection. Sur le plan de l’organisation collective du scrutin, l’accent est mis sur l’intérêt social, justifiant la prédominance de la loi de la majorité et venant tempérer la liberté du vote. Ces règles organisationnelles, tout en garantissant le droit de participer aux décisions collectives, promeuvent une certaine loyauté du vote, notamment en sanctionnant les abus du droit de vote, et une certaine éthique du vote, comme au travers du say on pay. Cette prise en compte croissante des intérêts collectifs lors du vote invite à renouveler certaines réflexions majeures du droit des sociétés. Elle interroge en particulier sur le rôle de l’associé et sur le bien-fondé de certains principes tels que celui qui prohibe les cessions de droits de vote
The right to vote is the supreme political prerogative of shareholders. While many debates have focused on its essential nature and the conditions under which it is granted, little thought has been given to how it should be exercised. The mode of exercise makes the right to vote unusual in that it arises from an individual right which can only be exercised collectively and indeed is critical for its effectiveness since voting rights can only be utilized episodically within the framework of general meetings of shareholders. The consideration of the principles governing the exercise of voting rights, a relatively unexplored topic since most effort in this area refers to practical aspects, should clarify the impact of this mechanism. At the individual level, the freedom to vote is a key principle, which can even partially neutralize the rules of its allocation, as in the case of abstention or shareholder activism. However, this freedom presupposes that the integrity of the vote and the right to information related to it are preserved. However, these features can be altered by external pressures motivated by the economic value of voting rights, which leads to a requirement for reinforced protection measures. At the collective level of the organisation of the ballot, the emphasis is placed on corporate interests, justifying the predominance of the majority rule and tempering the freedom to vote. These organisational rules, while guaranteeing the right to participate in collective decisions, promote a certain loyalty, in particular by punishing abuses of the right to vote, and via the application of a collective ethical approach (e.g. say-on-pay). This growing influence of collective interests in the voting process invites us to reconsider certain major company law principles. In particular, questions are around the role of the shareholder and the validity of certain of those principles such as that prohibiting the sale of voting rights

Le fonctionnement du régime politique démocratique fait aujourd’hui l’objet de nombreuses théories inquiètes. Cette inquiétude n’est cependant pas nouvelle. En économie au moins, de nombreux travaux pessimistes quant au fonctionnement démocratique ont émergé dès le milieu du XXe siècle, au moment où naissait l’analyse économique du politique telle qu’on la connait aujourd’hui. Les travaux de James M. Buchanan, Anthony Downs et Gordon Tullock sont particulièrement révélateurs de cette inquiétude. Mais leur étude révèle des disparités qui accompagnent ce sentiment commun. Ces dernières ont notamment trait à la méthodologie employée : tantôt positive, tantôt normative ; entre impérialisme économique et ouverture disciplinaire
The functioning of Democracy is the subject of many pessimistic theories. In economics, many pessimistic studies of democratic functioning have emerged since the middle of the 20th century, when the economic analysis of politics as we know it today was born. The works of Anthony Downs, Gordon Tullock and James M. Buchanan is particularly revealing of this concern. But their study reveals disparities that accompany this common feeling. The disparities relate in particular to the methodology employed: sometimes positive, sometimes normative; between economic imperialism and openness

La conception de procédures visant à classer les personnes en fonction de leur comportement dans des groupes estd’une grande importance dans de nombreuses situations. Le problème se pose dans une variété de scénarios de lathéorie du choix social, de la théorie des jeux coopératifs ou de la théorie de la décision multi-attributs. Cependant, dansde nombreuses applications du monde réel, une évaluation précise sur les "coalitions de pouvoir" peut être difficile pourde nombreuses raisons. Dans ce cas, il peut être intéressant de ne considérer que les informations ordinales concernantles comparaisons binaires entre les coalitions. L’objectif de cette thèse est d’étudier le problème de la recherche d’unclassement ordinal sur l’ensemble N d’individus (appelé classement social),en lui attribuant un rang ordinal par rapportà son ensemble de pouvoir (appelé relation de pouvoir). Pour ce faire, nous utilisons des notions de la théorie de voteclassique et la théorie des jeux coopératifs. Nous avons principalement défini des concepts de solution nommés règle demajorité ceteris paribus, et l’indice ordinal Banzhad, qui sont respectivement inspirées de la théorie de vote classique etde la théorie des jeux coopératifs. Comme la majorité de notre travail de thèse consiste à étudier des solutions à partird’une approche fondée sur la propriété, nous étudions axiomatiquement les solutions en reformulant les axiomes dansla théorie classique du vote. Enfin, l’exploration des extensions pondérées de la règle de la majorité ceteris paribus pourclasser plus de deux personnes, engendre une étude des familles de solutions pondérées
The design of procedures aimed at ranking individuals according to how they behave in various groups is of great importance in many practical situations. The problem occurs in a variety of scenarios coming from social choice theory,cooperative game theory or multi-attribute decision theory, and examples include: comparing researchers in a scientificdepartment by taking into account their impact across different teams; finding the most influential political parties in aparliament based on past alliances within alternative majority coalitions; rating attributes according to their influence ina multi-attribute decision context, where independence of attributes is not verified because of mutual interactions. However, in many real world applications, a precise evaluation on the coalitions’ “power” may be hard for many reasons (e.g., uncertain data, complexity of the analysis, missing information or difficulties in the update, etc.). In this case, it may be interesting to consider only ordinal information concerning binary comparisons between coalitions. The main objectiveof this thesis is to study the problem of finding an ordinal ranking over the set N of individuals (called social ranking),given an ordinal ranking over its power set (called power relation). In order to do that, during the thesis we use notionsin classical voting theory and cooperative game theory. Mainly, we have defined solution concepts named ceteris paribusmajority rule, and ordinal Banzhad index, which are respectively inspired from classical voting theory and cooperativegame theory. Since the majority of our work in the thesis is to study solutions from property-driven approach, we axiomatically study the solutions by reformulating axioms in classical voting theory. Finally, exploring weighted extensionsof the ceteris paribus majority rule to rank more than two individuals result in an axiomatic study of families of weightedsolutions

De nouvelles molécules de bis-urée contenant une fonction ester et ayant la capacité de s’auto-assembler en solution ont été synthétisées. Ces bis-urées ester forment deux types d’assemblages : un filament hélicoïdal et un double filament hélicoïdal. Une transition coopérative entre les deux structures est observée à une température T**. La structure de ces assemblages a été étudiée à l’aide d’une combinaison de FTIR, SANS, CD et modélisation moléculaire. Ce nouveau design permet un accès simplifié à des structures chirales qui ont été utilisées dans le contexte de trois projets différents. (1) Dans le contexte de l’amplification de chiralité, l’effet « majority rules » que présente les bis-urées ester a été étudié de façon à déterminer une relation structure-propriété. (2) Certaines bis-urées ester présentent toutes les propriétés nécessaires à leur utilisation en tant que balance supramoléculaire pour la mesure d’interactions faibles en solution. Nous avons utilisé ce système pour mesurer des interactions halogène···halogène dans des solvants de faible polarité. A notre connaissance, ces dernières n’avaient jamais été observées en solution. (3) Dans le cas de quelques bis-urées ester, un troisième type d’assemblage est observé à plus basse température qui est caractérisé par la formation de liaisons hydrogène entre les groupements urée et ester. De manière surprenante, la réorganisation de ces liaisons hydrogène pendant le chauffage est responsable d’une augmentation de la viscosité. Cette propriété fait de ces composés de potentiels additifs thermoépaississants
New self-assembling bis-urea molecules bearing an ester moiety have been synthesized and their properties studied. These ester bis-ureas display two new assemblies: a helical filament and a double helical filament. A cooperative transition is observed between the two structures at a temperature T**. The structure of these assemblies was studied using a combination of FTIR, SANS, CD and molecular modeling. This new design allows an easy access to chiral bis-ureas that were used in the context of three different projects. (1) In the context of chirality amplification, the majority rules effect in ester bis-ureas was studied in order to determine a structure-property relationship. (2) Some ester bis-ureas presented all the necessary properties for their use as a supramolecular balance designed to measure weak interactions in solution. We used this system to measure halogen···halogen interactions in low polarity solvents as those were, to our knowledge, never observed in solution. (3) With specific ester bis-ureas, a third type of assembly was observed at lower temperature that is characterized by the formation of hydrogen bonds between urea and ester moieties. Surprisingly, the reorganization of these hydrogen bonds during heating is responsible for an increase in viscosity. This property allows these compounds to be potential thermothickening additives

In the interplay between protection of rights and majoritarianism, the court is the arena. This research focuses on the conflicting role of the court within a constitutional democracy and a contestation of the counter-majoritarian dilemma that emerges from such a role. The counter-majoritarian dilemma centres on the idea that judges overturning decisions of the legislature through judicial review undermines democracy by thwarting the will of the majority through a subjective reading of abstract constitutional principles. As a point of departure, the counter-majoritarian dilemma is contested by revealing that the court can be seen as a democratically consistent institution if democracy can be reconceptualised. The examination of the South African jurisprudential climate and the adjudicative guidelines followed by the court suggests a rejection of such anti-democratic contention. The court upholds the commitments consented to at the time of the Constitution’s adoption and adjudication is reflective of the values undertaken by the country in reaction to its past. Within these values, minority rights can find a lifeline. Thus minority rights can exist through the implications of majoritarian consent. This research further identifies, in response to the counter-majoritarian dilemma, a constraining self-consciousness on the part of the court and an acute awareness of the court’s precarious role within a democratic infancy. The core of the counter-majoritarian dilemma is the view that interpretative indeterminacy of the Constitution means that the will of the people could be substituted for judicial preference. Through the examination of the court’s interpretative strategies and judicial subjectivity, this research suggests that within judicial subjectivity, adjudication continues to be reflective of the will of the people. Far from a constraining and mechanistic interpretation to avoid judicial subjectivity, the research reveals that open and non-formalist interpretative strategies are necessary to effectuate democratic conciliation within the judicial mandate. The results of this research suggest that, far from being a democratically deviant institution, the court in the current South African jurisprudential context, is the most suited to uphold the concept of democracy.
Jurisprudence
LL. M.

Depuis l'avènement de la Loi sur la clarté, remettant expressément en cause la validité de la règle de la majorité, ainsi que la célèbre maxime « une personne, une voix », au profit d'une majorité dite « claire », dans le cas d'un référendum québécois visant à se « séparer » du reste du Canada, ce mémoire tente de faire la lumière et d'analyser la validité ainsi que les fondements de cette règle historique du 50% + 1. Ainsi, tant à l'aide des thèses contemporaines qu'historiques, il importe de faire ressortir les différents arguments avancés de part et d'autre et de les replacer dans le présent contexte du Renvoi relatif à la sécession du Québec, menant à l'adoption de la Loi sur la clarté. Finalement, grâce aux récents référendums tenus à l'échelle mondiale, il sera dès lors possible de vérifier la validité de cette règle aux· niveaux national et intemational.
Since the enactment of the Clarity Act, which repudiated the validity of the majority rule and the famous maxim "one person, one vote", for the benefit of a so-called "clear" majority, this essay attempts to bring to light the validity and the foundation of the historical 50% + 1 rule, in the event of a referendum by the province of Quebec pursuant to "secede" from Canada. Thereby, by examining either the contemporary as weil as the historical justifications in favor of the majority rule, one ought to examine the different arguments put forward by either side of the political specter and try to interpret them in the context of the Secession Reference, which lead to the adoption of the Clarity Act. Analyzing the recent referendums held around the world, 1 will thereby try to examine the validity ofthe majority rule at the national and internationallevels.
"Mémoire présenté à la faculté des études supérieures en vue de l'obtention du grade de maîtrise en droit (LL.M.)"

abstract: One theoretical research topic in organizational economics is the information issues raised in different organizations. This has been extensively studied in last three decades. One common feature of these research is focusing on the asymmetric information among different agents within one organization. However, in reality, we usually face the following situation. A group of people within an organization are completely transparent to each other; however, their characters are not known by other organization members who are outside this group. In my dissertation, I try to study how this information sharing would affect the outcome of different organizations. I focus on two organizations: corporate board and political parties. I find that this information sharing may be detrimental for (some of) the members who shared information. This conclusion stands in contrast to the conventional wisdom in both corporate finance and political party literature.
Dissertation/Thesis
Ph.D. Economics 2014

This study critically and systematically analyses the purported democratic values of freedom and equality with a view to clarifying the meaning of the concepts of democracy, freedom and equality; and examining the nature of the relations between kinds of freedom and kinds of equality, their association with democracy, and assessing their reconcilability within the two broad schools of democratic theory, namely, Anglo American democratic theory and Continental democratic theory. Put slightly differently, the issue is whether freedom and equality are mutually compatible or incompatible within democratic contexts. The analysis necessitates exploring the possible reason or reasons for the reconcilability or incompatibility of freedom and equality. Hence, the arguments in democratic literature relevant to the meanings of freedom and equality, and the relations between them will be examined. The first set of arguments concern the question of whether kinds of freedom endanger kinds of equality, and conversely, whether kinds of equality erode or hamper kinds of freedom. The relation existing between freedom and equality, and equality and freedom, in both instances purport to demonstrate the tension existing between them in theory as well as in practice. The second set of arguments concern the question of whether kinds of freedom promote kinds of equality, and conversely, whether kinds of equality further kinds of freedom. The relation in both instances is deemed to demonstrate the affinity between freedom and equality, and equality and freedom. An attempt will thus be made to address the issue of the seemingly confusing array of meanings of democracy, freedom and equality, and the potentially problematic relations between them, and particularly those between freedom and equality as represented by the two sets of arguments within appropriate democratic contexts. The study will endeavour to examine the analytic and synthetic interplay of meanings and relations, their nature and compatibility or incompatibility, and the possible reasons for this state of affairs, in an attempt to identify and address the perceived misapprehensions concerning their meanings and relations in democratic literature.
Political Sciences
D. Litt. et Phil. (Politics)

Text in Afrikaans
Daar is 'n toenemende bewuswording van die noodsaaklikheid van effektiewe beskerming vir minderhede. Die rede vir hierdie toenemende erkenning aan die behoefte aan minderheidsbeskerming is waarskynlik toe te skryf aan die beset dat dit nie alleen die minderheidsaandeelhouers is wat skade ly in geval van benadelende optrede nie, maar ook die ekonomie. Maatskappye word ingevolge die beginsel van meerderheidsbewind bestuur, met die gevolg dat die minderheid onderworpe is aan die wil van die meerderheid. Die minderheid kan hulself hierdeur in 'n onbenydenswaardige posisie bevind, veral indien die meerderheid hul mag aanwend om hul eie belange te bevorder. Gemeenregtelik is die reel in Foss v Harbottle 'n struikelblok vir minderheidsaandeelhouers wat gedingvoering beoog. In 'n poging om die gebrekkige gemeenregtelike beskerming van minderhede te ondervang, is bepaalde statutere maatreels ingevoer. Die evaluasie van hierdie maatreels geskied aan die hand van 'n regsvergelykende ondersoek na verskeie buitelandse stelsels, waarvan die van Nieu-Seeland en Kanada uit staan vanwee die innoverende aard van hul statutere beskermingsmaatreels. Die gevolgtrekking is dat die beskerming wat die Suid-Afrikaanse statutere maatreels aan minderhede bied, onbevredigend is om verskeie redes. Eerstens is hierdie maatreels dikwels te eng bewoord wat daartoe lei dat die aanwendingsveld van die maatreels beperk is. Tweedens hou die maatreels nie tred met ontwikkelings elders in die wereld en veranderende omstandighede en behoeftes in die praktyk nie. Derdens ontbreek goed geformuleerde remedies wat aanvullend tot artikel 252 van die Wet sal wees. Daar is verder bevind dat ad hocwysigings van bestaande maatreels nie die gewenste resultaat gaan bereik nie en 'n algehele hervorming van die Suid-Afrikaanse maatskappyereg word aanbeveel. Ten slotte word konkrete voorstelle in die vorm van konsepwetgewing gemaak en word vergesel van verduidelikende notas. Hierdie wetgewing is hoofsaaklik aan die hand van die Nieu-Seelandse en Kanadese modelle geformuleer.
There is a growing awareness of the need for effective protection of minority shareholders. This can probably be ascribed to the acknowledgement of the fact that prejudicial conduct harms not only minority shareholders, but also the economy at large. Companies are governed by the principle of majority rule; consequently the minority is subjected to the will of the majority. This often places the minority in an invidious position, especially when the majority use their power to further their own interests. The rule in Foss v Harbottle presents a stumbling block to minority shareholder action. Certain statutory measures have been introduced in an effort to counter defective minority protection. These statutory measures are evaluated in the light of a comparative study of several foreign jurisdictions, the most prominent of which are New Zealand and Canada, because of the innovative nature of the measures which they employ. The conclusion arrived at is that, for various reasons, the protection afforded minorities by the South African statutory measures is unsatisfactory. Firstly, the wording of these measures is narrowly construed; this in turn results in a narrow field of application. Secondly, these measures are not in step with developments elsewhere in the world and with the changing circumstances and needs in practice. Thirdly, well-formulated remedies needed in order to supplement section 252 of the Act are non-existent. It has also been found that ad hoc amendments of existing measures will not achieve the required result, and consequently a complete reform of South African company law is recommended. Finally, specific recommendations in the form of draft legislation are made; these are accompanied by explanatory notes. This draft legislation was formulated primarily along the lines of the New Zealand and Canadian models.
Private Law
LL.D.

Department of Development Studies
PhD (African Studies)
There is a political conflict in Zimbabwe between the ruling Zimbabwean African National Union-PatrioticFront (ZANU-PF) and the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Political conflict is a battle that occurs between two or more sides with different beliefs. Although Zimbabwe is a sovereign state, South Africa used a foreign policy of “quiet diplomacy” to contribute to the peaceful resolution of Zimbabwe’s political conflict. A sovereign state is a state which administers its own government and is not dependent upon or subjected to another state. Dissent in Zimbabwe centres around the land issue, land ownership, land reform, and land appropriation – problems caused as a result of parliamentary and presidential elections. Land reform led the government to introduce “Operation Murambatsvina” which was a campaign to forcibly clear slum areas across the country. The government depicted the operation as a crackdown against illegal housing and commercial activities and as an effort to reduce the risk of the spread of infectious disease in these areas. South Africa’s “quiet diplomacy” succeeded in the peaceful resolution of the Zimbabwean political conflict because the land issue was deemed legitimate; however, the methods used for land reform seem to be problematic. For a way forward, the Zimbabwean government needs to be accountable, transparent and democratic. The researcher used a qualitative research method to gather an in-depth understanding of human behaviour and the reasons that govern such behaviour. The researcher asked broad questions and collected word data from participants. The researcher used different approaches in collecting data, such as narratology, storytelling, classical ethnography and shadowing. In addition the researcher used primary and secondary sources.

My dissertation is devoted to the question of which political decision-making institutions real-world democratic societies ought to adopt. Following a brief introduction in chapter one, it is structured around three sub-issues. Part one considers how citizens’ conduct in elections ought to be regulated. Chapter two offers a defence of compulsory voting, by appeal to the wrongness of free-riding, and responds to many of the objections raised by compulsory voting’s critics. Chapter three offers a defence of bans on vote buying. I show that recent arguments in favour of permitting vote buying are implausible. I then go on to criticise existing accounts of the wrongness of vote buying, and offer a novel, respect-based account of the wrongness of the practice. Part two considers whether, and how, persons conventionally excluded from the franchise ought to be included in the democratic process. Chapter four argues that the disenfranchisement of children is unjust. I argue that all major, plausible approaches to the justification of voting rights converge upon a requirement that children from around the age of twelve be enfranchised, and that none of the principal objections raised to child enfranchisement are persuasive. Chapter five considers the position of the cognitively disabled. I argue that, contrary to hopes expressed in the literature, enfranchising the cognitively disabled is unlikely to make any difference to the democratic processes’ under-responsiveness to such persons. Ensuring adequate consideration for the cognitively disabled will require deeper institutional reform. I consider a range of possibilities, ultimately arguing for the creation of a deliberative citizens’ assembly to address the issue. Part three, finally, considers whether the institutions presupposed in parts one and two – universal suffrage, and decision-making via the aggregation of citizens’ expressed preferences – can be justified in light of two significant challenges. Chapter six considers the competence objection, advanced by Jason Brennan. I show that Brennan’s objection is reliant upon a naïve account of citizens’ rights against risk-impositions, and cannot be sustained on any more plausible view. I also criticise Brennan’s preferred ‘epistocratic’ alternative to democracy. Finally, chapter seven considers the ‘lottocratic’ challenge. Several authors have recently argued that substituting universal suffrage and/or aggregative decision-making with some chance-based device would either preserve, or improve upon, the egalitarian appeal of democracy, while realising higher-quality results. I argue that the positive egalitarian case for lottocracy is implausible, and that the comparative egalitarian and instrumental merits of appropriately structured democratic arrangements will generally be superior.

With few exceptions, not enough attention has been paid to the phenomenon of ethnic minority rule over hostile majorities in the studies of ethnic conflict. This thesis attempts to account for the ability of ethnic minorities to rule over hostile majorities for continuous periods of time, and to devise a theory for the study of this phenomenon by comparing three cases: the Alawis in Syria, the Tutsis in Burundi and the Sunni Muslim minority in Iraq. The major argument of the thesis is that the phenomenon in question does not occur randomly. There are certain conditions that motivate an ethnic minority to seek political power, and to be able to attain it and maintain continuous rule despite the hostility of the majority. Naturally, each case has its particular characteristics, yet common patterns underlying minority rule over hostile majorities can be found, and an analytical framework can bJe devised. The examination of the three cases leads to the conclusion that minority rule has to be explained by examining how the identities of the minority and majority were formed, how they have been shaped throughout the history of interaction between the two groups, and how they have influenced the relationship between the groups. There is also a need to study how political entrepreneurs manipulate traditional markers and modern issues for instrumental gains. On this basis, it is possible to understand the political salience of the identities, the level of hostility and the reasons why the minorities seek political power. Attaining it or retaining it, and maintaining it for a continuous period of time is dependent on an authoritarian government structure, which includes, indispensably, considerable army involvement in politics. Persistent minority rule is also dependent on its ability to legitimize itself, primarily by creating a unified identity. Success in forming such a unified identity implies a decrease in the saliency of elements of identity that' distinguish between the groups, and ultimately a decrease in the level hostility. This allows the minority rule to persist. If, however, this "unified identity" does not have the desired outcome of mollifying the majority, the ruling minority can, and will, use its military monopoly of coercive power to subdue internal opposition.

Przedmiotem rozprawy doktorskiej jest zagadnienie swobody kształtowania treści umowy spółki z o.o. Doktryna nie wypracowała dotąd jasnych wskazówek interpretacyjnych, które pozwoliłyby rozstrzygnąć w spójny sposób o dopuszczalności umieszczania określonych postanowień w umowie spółki z o.o. Konsekwencją tego są spory dotyczące licznych zagadnień szczegółowych. Prowadzi to do niejednolitej praktyki sądów rejestrowych, co jest zjawiskiem niepożądanym, powoduje bowiem brak pewności co do rozstrzygnięć sądowych.W tych uwarunkowaniach konieczne było, po pierwsze, ustalenie treści dyrektyw interpretacyjnych, przy pomocy których należy oceniać dopuszczalność zamieszczenia w umowie spółki z o.o. konkretnych postanowień oraz, po drugie, ustalenie właściwego sposobu pojmowania kryteriów ograniczających swobodę kształtowania treści umowy spółki z o.o. Analiza obu tych kwestii umożliwiła z kolei odpowiedź na pytanie, czy stosowana wdoktrynie i orzecznictwie wykładnia przepisów nie zawęża nadmiernie autonomii woli wspólników.Pracę podzielono na trzy części. Analiza przeprowadzona w pierwszej części pracy doprowadziła do wniosku, że spółka z o.o. stanowi szczególnego rodzaju stosunek zobowiązaniowy. W związku z tym spółkę z o.o. należy postrzegać przez pryzmat zasady swobody umów – wspólnicy powinni mieć możliwość swobodnego dostosowywania kształtu instytucji spółki z o.o. do własnych potrzeb, tak długo, jak realizacja ich autonomii woli nie narusza szeroko pojętego bezpieczeństwa obrotu. Podstawę ustalania zakresu swobody kształtowania treści umowy spółki z o.o. w zakresie pozostawionych przez ustawodawcę luzów decyzyjnych, tj. w odniesieniu do postanowień zmieniających treść ustawy oraz postanowień dodatkowych stanowi więc art. 3531 k.c. Jednak ze sposobu sformułowania przepisów oraz aksjologii prawa spółek odkodowanej z całokształtu regulacji spółki z o.o. wynika konieczność przyjęcia – inaczej niż w prawie zobowiązań – wstępnego domniemania imperatywnego charakteru norm prawnych. Ponadto analiza dotycząca charakteru prawnego spółki z o.o. doprowadziła do sformułowania uwag de lege ferenda – w niektórych przypadkach regulacja spółki z o.o. nadmiernie ogranicza swobodę umów.W drugiej części pracy zostały omówione kryteria delimitujące swobodę kształtowania treści umowy spółki z o.o.: zasady współżycia społecznego, natura stosunku spółki z o.o. i ustawa. Z analizy wynika, że w procesie definiowania tych kryteriów należy poszukiwać rozwiązań w jak największym stopniu uwzgledniających zasadę swobody umów – dotyczy to m.in. sposobu pojmowania kryterium natury spółki.W trzeciej części dysertacji zilustrowano, jak tezy zaprezentowane w poprzednich częściach pracy wpływają na ocenę dopuszczalności umieszczenia w umowie spółki z o.o. konkretnych postanowień. W tej części rozprawy odwołano się również do poglądów doktryny niemieckiej, która uznaje dość szeroki zakres swobody umów w spółce z o.o. Powyższe spostrzeżenie powinno stanowić asumpt do podjęcia dyskusji nad zasadnością zawężania swobody umów w polskiej spółce z o.o. Pomimo ogólnych deklaracji o obowiązywaniu w spółce z o.o. zasady swobody umów, polska doktryna często opowiada się przeciwko dopuszczalności konkretnych postanowień umowy spółki z o.o. w sytuacjach, gdy wydaje się, że w świetle zasady swobody umów zasadne byłoby przyznanie wspólnikom swobody kształtowania treści umowy spółki.
This doctoral dissertation focuses on the freedom of determination of the contents of articles of association of a Polish spółka z o.o. So far, the doctrine has not developed unambiguous interpretative guidelines that would make it possible to consistently decide the issue of admissibility of introducing certain provisions in articles of association of spółka z o.o. This gives rise to disputes on a number of specific issues. This leads to the inconsistent approach taken by registry courts, which is an undesirable phenomenon, as it gives rise to uncertainty as to court decisions.In such circumstances, it was necessary, first, to determine the content of the interpretative directives which should be used for evaluating the admissibility of introducing certain provisions in the articles of association of spółka z o.o. and, secondly, to determine the proper understanding of the criteria restricting the freedom of determination of the content of articles of association of spółka z o.o. The analysis of these two issues has, in turn, made it possible to answer the question of whether the interpretation of the provisions applied by the doctrine and courts does not excessively restrict the autonomy of shareholders’ will.The dissertation has been divided into three parts. The analysis carried out in the first part has led to the conclusion that spółka z o.o. creates an obligation of a specific type. Accordingly, spółka z o.o. should be seen through the prism of the principle of freedom of contract, i.e. shareholders should be able to freely adjust the structure of spółka z o.o. to their purposes, so long as the exercise of their autonomy of will does not prejudice broadly understood security of transactions. Therefore, the determination of the scope of freedom of determination of the contents of articles of association of spółka z o.o. within the leewaygranted by the legislator, i.e. with respect to the provisions amending the legal norms and additional provisions, is based on Article 3531 of the Polish Civil Code. However, it results from the way of drafting the legal provisions and the axiology of company law decoded from all provisions governing spółka z o.o. that, unlike in the contract law, legal norms must be presumed to be mandatory. In addition, the analysis of the legal nature of spółka z o.o has led to the formulation of comments de lege ferenda – in some cases the provisions governing spółka z o.o excessively restrict the freedom of contract.The second part of the dissertation discusses the criteria delimiting the freedom of determination of the contents of articles of association of spółka z o.o, such as principles of community life, nature of the spółka z o.o. relationship and relevant acts. The analysis reveals that, when determining such criteria, solutions taking into account, as much as possible, the principle of freedom of contract should be sought. This applies, among others, to the understanding of the criterion of the nature of a company.The third part of the dissertation illustrates how the theses put forward in the previous parts affect the evaluation of admissibility of introducing certain provisions in the articles of association of spółka z o.o. That part of the dissertation also refers to the views presented in the German doctrine which allows for a fairly broad freedom of contract in spółka z o.o. The above observation should serve as a cornerstone for discussion whether or not it is reasonable to restrict the freedom of contract in a Polish spółka z o.o. Despite general declarations that the principle of freedom of contract is applicable in spółka z o.o., the Polish doctrine often puts forward arguments against the admissibility of introducing certain provisions in the articles of association of spółka z o.o. where, in the light of the principle of freedom of contract, it would be reasonable to allow shareholders to freely determine the contents of articles of association.