Journal articles on the topic 'President, Constitution, prerogatives'

This article investigates how ambiguous constitutional design affected president–cabinet relations and constitutional change in post-communist Poland and Hungary. Constitutional provisions related to the prerogatives of presidents and governments were frequently subject to political conflict during the 1990s. The power struggle in the two cases developed and consolidated along two distinct pathways. In Poland, failed attempts to modify the constitution initially stirred up and extended intra-executive conflicts. With the adoption of a new constitution in 1997 the struggle over power between president and council of ministers was finally settled. In Hungary constitutional court rulings were instrumental in the settlement of president–cabinet conflicts.

Based on an analysis of the updated version of our State Constitution, the author comes to the unequivocal conclusion that the powers of the President of Russia have now significantly increased as his prerogatives have expanded.

Abstract. This study discusses the political process relating to the issue of presidential prerogative control with an emphasis on the views and interests of the actors involved in discussing the issue. This study explains two main questions, namely how the actualization of presidential prerogative powers in Indonesia's presidential system after the constitutional amendment and what is behind the ambivalence of the president's prerogative power formulation in Indonesia's presidential system after the constitutional amendment. This study finds that constitutional amendments related to the president's prerogatives show ambivalence that distorts the prerogative meaning itself and is not strict between limiting or actually expanding the president's power. This happens because of the tug-of-war between legislative and executive interests. Behind the issue of controlling the president's prerogative powers, there is the interest of legislative institutions to equalize power with the president. Instead, the executive seeks to maintain or extend the president’s prerogative power.Keywords: Prerogative Power; Presidential; Amendment of Constitutions.Abstrak. Studi ini membahas proses politik berkaitan dengan isu pengendalian prerogatif presiden dengan penekanan pada pandangan dan kepentingan para aktor yang terlibat dalam pembahasan isu tersebut. Studi in menjelaskan dua pertanyaan pokok: (1) Bagaimana aktualisasi kekuasaan prerogatif presiden dalam sistem presidensial Indonesia pasca amandemen konstitusi? (2) Apa yang melatarbelakangi ambivalensi rumusan kekuasaan prerogatif presiden dalam sistem presidensial Indonesia pasca amandemen konstitusi? Hasil studi inii menemukan bahwa amandemen konstitusi terkait dengan prerogatif presiden menampakkan ambivalensi yang mendistorsi makna prerogatif itu sendiri dan tidak tegas antara membatasi atau justru memperluas kekuasaan presiden. Hal ini terjadi karena adanya tarik menarik antara kepentingan legislatif dan eksekutif. Di balik isu pengendalian kekuasaan prerogatif presiden, ada kepentingan institusi legislatif untuk menyetarakan kekuasaan dengan presiden. Sebaliknya, pihak eksekutif berupaya untuk mempertahankan atau mempeluas kekuasaan prerogatif presiden.Kata Kunci: Kekuasaan Prerogatif; Presidensial; Amandemen Konstitusi.

The institution of the president exists in the majority of the countries of the western world.Depending on the prerogatives granted by the constitution, the president may performeither a representative function or have the real power. No matter what the role of thepresident is, the position is deeply embedded in the political system, and the constitutional law as well as political practice specify its scope of competencies and capabilities.When we go beyond the Euro-Atlantic area, we can also find the states where an officeof president is run. While its formation, Asian, African and South American societies,consciously or not, usually emulated the Euro-Atlantic experiences. In general, historicalbackground of the non-European states, however, makes the history of the presidentialoffice shorter, and the introduction of this position was often a result of violent sociopolitical changes. What often distinguishes the presidencies of the African and Asiancountries from the Euro-Atlantic ones is their instability – in running this office a lotdepends on the personality traits of the person holding it as well as on the tradition (orlack thereof) of strong central governance. On that premise, the presidency history ofa non-European state, i.e. Afghanistan can be presented. This is an interesting case sincethe above mentioned factors are clearly visible in here, and the state’s internal politicalsituation is unstable. In addition, as the international forces are supposed to be withdrawnfrom the country until the end of 2014, the president may then become the main bodyformulating public policy and, thus, shaping the future of Afghanistan.

The armed forces have reconstructed authentic democracy. They have once again definitively carried out their mission…. I love this country more than Life itself.Captain General Augusto Pinochet11 September 1989The Constitution of 1980 does not meet, in its elaboration of the manner in which it was ratified, the essential conditions required by constitutional doctrine for the existence of a legitimate political order based on the rule of law.Francisco Cumplido C. (1983)Minister of Justice (1990)On 11 March 1990, Patricio Aylwin took office as Chile's first elected president since 1970. Chile thus joined the list of Latin American nations making a transition from military to civilian government. Like the civilian governments in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Peru, Bolivia, El Salvador and Guatemala, Chile's new government faced the challenge of returning the armed forces to a less central role in politics and reducing their institutional prerogatives.

The President as the Head of State has prerogative rights besides having authority in outgoing relations contained in the 1945 Constitution. In the case of the formation, amendment and dissolution of state ministries after the 1945 Constitution Amendments do not become the full authority of the President, but are based on the law (Article 17 paragraph (4) of the 1945 Constitution), so that there will be no more unilateral dissolution of a state ministry by the President. The issues to be discussed are as follows: What has been changed in the amendment to the 1945 Constitution regarding the President's Prerogative Rights, and how the amendments to the 1945 Constitution on the President's Prerogative Rights on the government system in Indonesia. With the amendment of the 1945 Constitution four times, it has an influence on the position of the President in exercising his prerogative rights. The President's prerogative right before the amendment is not fully implemented to carry out the President's Constitutional obligations, but is related to political content. After the amendment to the 1945 Constitution there was a shift in the application of the President's prerogative rights, namely by including other state institutions in the implementation of the prerogative. Amendments to the 1945 Constitution on the President's Prerogative Rights did not result in a change in the Indonesian government system.

Prerogative rights can be interpreted as privileges or privileges, The Indonesian constitutional history that has used several constitutions indirectly has implications for the practice of the use of prerogative rights in Indonesia. This study research on the preogrative rights of the President in the Constitutions of Indonesia. The approach used in this study is normative juridical with the law approach model. It is concluded that the use of prerogative rights has ups and downs influenced by the concept of checks and balances and distribution of power. Therefore, the use of prerogative rights as in the previous constitution is more directed to heavy executives who do not require confirmation to other state institutions, now it has begun to be restricted so the use of the term prerogative privileges is no longer pure as before. Keyword: President, Prerogative Rights, Indonesia Constitution

The Framers of the U.S. Constitution saw the Senate as their paramount creation. To James Madison, it was “the great anchor of the government,” and in his seminal plans for a new national government, the Senate figured as the most prominent and powerful institution, to be endowed with a potent combination of legislative, executive, and judicial prerogatives that were greater and more wide-ranging than those of either the House or the president. In the four months that the Framers met in Philadelphia, they spent more time and energy deliberating on the Senate than on any other single institution or issue, devoting most of the first seven critical weeks to the upper house, and thereafter, though more scattered, the equivalent of another week or two of consideration. In contrast, they focused on the House, executive, and federal judiciary for a few weeks each at most, and spent even less time on such vital issues as sectionalism and slavery. By the end of the Convention, the Framers had created an imposing chamber, possessing far more power and autonomy than any other upper house heretofore created in independent America. Small wonder, then, that in assessing the work of the Convention, the influential delegate from Connecticut, Roger Sherman, pronounced it “the most important branch in the government.” Smaller wonder still that the Framers would comprise over half the membership of the first Senate.

Locke's Second Treatise of Government argues for the rule of law as just and rightful politics, not only in the fundamental legislation that is the constitution but also in regular governance by the legislature. Locke also argues for executive prerogative, the power of doing good without or even against law during contingency and necessity. Rule by legislation and rule by prerogative each preserve the political community and reflect its foundation out of the state of nature. But they do not easily coexist in the constitution, which provides no means to judge the rightful use of prerogative. President Lincoln's strong, discretionary actions during the crisis of the Civil War illustrate Locke's argument about prerogative's fundamental importance and its problematic relation to ordinary lawfulness. However, as Lincoln recognized, both the Constitution and Congress formally provided for an executive power that was remarkably compatible with the rule of law—and that thereby responded to the Lockean problem.

On June 29, 2018 in Dziennik Urzędowy “Monitor Polski” (the Official Gazette of the Republic of Poland) were published two announcements by the President of the Republic of Poland – from May 24, 2018, on the vacant positions of the judges in the Supreme Court and from May 28, 2018 on the vacant positions of the judge in the Supreme Administrative Court. The obligation to announce the number of vacant judges’ positions is a result of changes in the structure of the Supreme Court introduced by the new law of 8 December 2017 and the obligation to apply these provisions to the judges of the Supreme Administrative Court. The controversy is aroused by the fact that the published announcements were not countersigned – although this competence is not included in the catalog of presidential prerogatives, exempted from the obligation of co-signing by the Prime Minister. The analysis of the constitutional shape of the countersignature and the practice of using by the President of his competences will allow to answer the question whether the President’s announcements require for their validity the signature of the Prime Minister’s or are they exempt from this requirement. In the light of the doctrinal reflections, the recognition of the announcement of the President of the Republic of Poland on vacant judicial positions in the Supreme Court and the Supreme Administrative Court may be considered as a derivative or analogous competence to the presidential prerogative of appointing judges. However, this stands in contradiction with the Constitutional Tribunal jurisprudence, which excludes the possibility of a broad interpretation of the constitutional catalog of prerogatives. Nevertheless, due to the informative, non-normative character of the announcements of the President, the issue of qualifying them to the catalog of official acts, for which the countersignature is required, raises reasonable doubts.

The 1945 Constitution of Indonesia as the constitutional authority of the President shall arrange everything as the highest authority of the executive. Such arrangements must be made clear boundaries so that later the president does not exceed its authority itself and cause a totalitarian power . Prerogative is one authority regulated implicitly by the constitution and gave full power to the President to implement this right , such as the appointment and dismissal of the Chief of Police.

The debate about the existence of clemency as a prerogative of the president stems from the understanding that the rights is coming independently from the authority and without any branches of power. In this context, the comparative study of the constitutional norms in some countries in the world related to the norm of clemency is important to read the tendency of other countries about clemency rules. This study shows that the constitutional norm of countries in the world basically has the same tendency in the application of clemency by the president; there is involvement of other branches of power. Some constitutions of the world call the recommendation, hearing, information, consultation, advice, in accord, concurrence (approval) and others. The involvement of other branches of power in the grant of pardon does not mean reducing the authority of the president (prerogative), but it has become a tendency in almost all modern states to embrace the system of government power within the framework of public accountability. The term prerogative of the president (absolute) in practice is no longer absolute and independent. Perdebatan sepuar eksistensi grasi sebagai hak prerogatif presiden berpangkal pada pemahaman yang menyebut bahwa suatu hak disebut sebagai hak prerogatif presiden jika kewenangan yang lahir dari hak tersebut bersifat khusus dan mandiri tanpa adanya keterlibatan cabang kekuasaan lain. Dalam konteks ini, kajian perbandingan terutama terhadap norma konstitusi di beberapa negara di dunia terkait dengan norma tentang grasi menjadi penting untuk memotret kecenderungan yang dimiliki negara-negara lain dalam hal pengaturan tentang grasi. Kajian ini menunjukan bahwa norma konstitusi negara-negara di dunia pada dasarnya memiliki kecenderungan yang sama dalam penerapan pemberian grasi oleh presiden, yakni ada keterlibatan cabang kekuasaan lain. Beberapa konstitusi negara-negara di dunia menyebut keterlibatan tersebut dengan menggunakan ragam istilah seperti recomandation, hearing, inform, consultation, advice, in accordance, conccurance (persetujuan) dan lain-lain. Adanya keterlibatan cabang kekuasaan lain dalam mekanisme pemberian grasi bukan berarti mereduksi kewenangan presiden (hak prerogatif), tetapi memang menjadi kecenderungan hampir di semua negara-negara modern untuk menganut sistem pemerintahan yang berusaha menempatkan segala model kekuasaannya dalam kerangka pertanggungjawaban publik, sehingga istilah hak prerogatif presiden (sacara mutlak) dalam prakteknya tidak lagi bersifat mutlak dan mandiri. DOI: 10.15408/jch.v5i1.6574

The right of clemency by the President as a prerogative/constitutional right in the Indonesian constitutional system still causes a lot of polemics. The right of clemency by the President is regulated in Article 14 paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, namely the President grants clemency and rehabilitation by taking into account the considerations of the Supreme Court. The application for clemency is regulated in Law no. 22 of 2002 jo. Law No. 5 of 2010 concerning Clemency. Before making a decision, the President must first consider the considerations of the Supreme Court.Keywords: Clemency Right, President.

In the Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia Year 1945 stipulates that Indonesia is adopting a presidential system in the administration of the State. The consequence of this system, as stipulated in Article 4, paragraph 1 of the 1945 Constitution, that the president acts as head of government. In addition, implied by reference in Article 10 to Article 15 of the 1945 Constitution, the president also acted as Head of State, of the provisions of the president has a great power. In the 1945 Constitution besides regulating the system of government also regulates the powers of the president who is usually known as the Right Prerogative but the authors have called for Constitutional Rights. Authorizations are set out in Articles 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and Article 15 of the 1945 Constitution existence of the special session is not mentioned explicitly in the 1945 Constitution Article 2 paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution states that the Assembly convene at least once in five years, however Tap. III / 1978 set for the existence of the special session (SI) to hold the president in the middle of his term.

There is widespread agreement among scholars that Franklin D. Roosevelt created the modern presidency, and he serves as their paradigm of successful presidential leadership. James MacGregor Burns, Richard Neustadt, Clinton Rossiter, and others who took their cues from them found in FDR the ideal heroic president. He combined extensive and sustained popularity, partisan support, skillful power-sensitive bargaining and persuasion, adept use of the prerogatives of the office, and consummate performance of the multiple roles of the president to make the American constitutional system work.

US presidents have routinely ordered the use of force without seeking prior authorisation from Congress. However, this practice does not mean that the legislature is irrelevant, as Congress often influences decisions by exercising informal political levers. One of the most important is through Congress’ ability to affect popular support for the commander-in-chief. Through a pair of experiments embedded on nationally representative opinion surveys, this article evaluates whether Congress’ constitutional prerogatives in war powers remain relevant when battling the president in the public sphere. Policy criticism significantly decreased support for the use of force, as did challenges to administration actions on constitutional grounds. Although Congress routinely fails to use the constitutional tools at its disposal to check the commander-in-chief, these powers bolster Congress’ capacity to influence public opinion. Hence, while presidents enjoy considerable leeway in the military arena, Congress’ capacity to erode public support can serve as a check on presidential power.

In the wake of Vietnam and Watergate, Congress set out to attack the imperial Presidency and to recapture its “historic constitutional role” in foreign policy. The tools of congressional activism included the National Commitments Resolution, the War Powers Resolution, the Case Act, the legislative veto over arms sales and nuclear exports, trade restrictions aimed at the Soviet Union and regulation of intelligence activities. In response, Presidents Carter and Reagan charged that Congress was invading presidential prerogatives. Joined by former executive branch officials and academic commentators, they saw an imperial Congress and believed the solution was a strengthened Presidency.

Constitutional change is always tinged with a tense and lasting political constellation in both national and international contexts. the existence of transactional politics to gain seats constantly influences political dynamics in the election period. The method used in this research is the doctrinal method. Indonesia applies a presidential government system but does not fully follow the existing doctrine. several coalitions in the government coalition were made. As a result when the President and Vice President are nominated. political parties that support the nomination feel they have the right to join the government, as in the parliamentary system of government. The cabinet filling model is also influenced by supporting parties. It shows that political parties can collaborate to form a joint government, however, the President has the prerogative in determining who will be his minister. It should be carefully noted down that our country is a country adopting a presidential government system. As a result, the formation and the ministers elections of the government is not at the hand of the chairperson of the political parties coalition, but fully at the hand of the president as the President’s prerogative rights. This cannot be proceeded. Chairperson of the Political parties in a coalition may expect to get some seats of powers (minister) from the President Keywords: cabinet; election; political; party; chairperson

In the State of Capture report the public protector instructed the president to appoint a commission of inquiry to investigate the capture of state institutions by the Gupta family. The president and his family are personally implicated and due to a conflict of interests, the public protector limited both his choice of a commissioner to conduct the inquiry and the power to specify certain terms of reference. In the Economic Freedom Fighters, the Constitutional Court ruled that the public protector's remedial action is legally binding and must be executed by the state organs concerned. President Zuma challenges the remedial action on the basis that it is the sole prerogative of the head of state under section 84(2)(f) of the Constitution to appoint commissions of inquiry and that it is an unfettered discretionary power, which may not be limited. It is not only doubtful whether the responsibility to appoint commissions of inquiry is invariably a discretionary power; it is also doubtful whether the president has an unfettered discretion. In the case of a conflict of interest the president would in any event be barred from taking a decision in terms of the nemo iudex maxim if the decision could be tainted by bias. The difficulty is that section 90 of the Constitution does not regulate the ad hoc exercise of section-84(2) powers by another state organ when the president should recuse himself from taking a decision. The limitations imposed by the public protector in regard to the commission of inquiry appear to be the best solution under the circumstances.

AbstractAmong scholars, delegation of power to the US president in 1934 is widely believed to have been a necessary requisite for tariff reductions in ensuing years. According to conventional wisdom, delegation to the president sheltered Congress from constituent pressure thereby facilitating the opening of the US economy and the emergence of the United States as a world power. This article suggests a revision to our understanding of just how that occurred. Through a close study of the US tariff schedule between 1928 and 1964, focusing on highly protected products, we examine which products were subject to liberalization and at what time. After 1934, delegation led to a change in trade policy, not because Congress gave up their constitutional prerogative in this domain but because presidents were able to target the potential economic dislocation that derives from import competition to avoid the creation of a congressional majority willing to halt the trade agreements program.

Post-communist development in Russia has been characterized by the development of a dual state in which the constitutional order is balanced by the consolidation of an arbitrary prerogative state. This horizontal dualism has taken root in Russia's regions; and this is accompanied by the establishment of a form of vertical dualism in relations between the regions and the center. Attempts to overcome this form of segmented regionalism under president Vladimir Putin have been undermined by the development of Chechenization, which represents not only the repudiation of dualism in this republic, but threatens to undermine the precarious balance between the constitutional and prerogative states at the federal level as well. Chechenization has its opponents in Moscow as well and its fate is defined by the struggle between the factions at the center. The process of “separatism without secession” is a highly ambiguous one and reflects broader developments in the Russian state as president Dmitry Medvedev seeks to strengthen the constitutional pillar of the dual state.

The general constitutional authority of the President to veto legislation passed by Congress has recently received renewed scholarly attention. However, few studies have focused on the pocket veto—the power to negate proposed laws sent for approval without the possibility of reconsideration—and its ramifications for presidential effectiveness. This research comprehensively investigates the creation, development, and employment of the pocket veto. First, this article will trace the history of this form of executive prerogative from colonial times through its establishment in the Constitution. Second, it will review the use of the pocket veto in the nineteenth century. Third, it will undertake a seminal empirical probe of influences on public-bill pocket-veto frequency from 1889 to 1989. Fourth, I will delineate congressional and court challenges to the use of this executive device. In the final section, I will assess the consequences of heightened consternation over pocket-veto use.

Brazil descended into a major political crisis after the 2013 mass demonstrations against electoral corruption and failure to fulfil constitutional obligations related to social and economic rights. This turmoil destabilized the political establishment and severely impacted the behaviour of legal institutions. The use of political mandates and institutional prerogatives, contrary to established social norms and traditional interpretations of the law, became unexceptional. In this article, Operation Car Wash, the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff, and the process to save the mandate of her successor, President Michel Temer, are analysed as successive examples of ‘constitutional hardball’ that dominated Brazilian political and institutional life, leading the country to a period of ‘constitutional malaise’ or ‘constitutional regression.’ The main objective of the article is to understand the impact of this cycle of institutional retaliations, rooted in the clash between the political and legal establishments (represented by Operation Car Wash), on the stability of Brazilian constitutional democracy.

Brazil descended into a major political crisis after the 2013 mass demonstrations against electoral corruption and failure to fulfil constitutional obligations related to social and economic rights. This turmoil destabilized the political establishment and severely impacted the behaviour of legal institutions. The use of political mandates and institutional prerogatives, contrary to established social norms and traditional interpretations of the law, became unexceptional. In this article, Operation Car Wash, the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff, and the process to save the mandate of her successor, President Michel Temer, are analysed as successive examples of ‘constitutional hardball’ that dominated Brazilian political and institutional life, leading the country to a period of ‘constitutional malaise’ or ‘constitutional regression.’ The main objective of the article is to understand the impact of this cycle of institutional retaliations, rooted in the clash between the political and legal establishments (represented by Operation Car Wash), on the stability of Brazilian constitutional democracy.

Congress has abdicated its role at the center of U.S. political life. As a result, the constitutional powers that should be exercised by Congress in both domestic and foreign policy have been progressively appropriated by the executive branch. At times, presidents have seized those powers through exigent circumstances or congressional desuetude and ineffectiveness. Just as frequently, however, Congress has been willing—if not eager—to cede those prerogatives to the president whether for the sake of expediency, emergency, efficiency, electoral maneuvering, or in a deliberate effort to deflect political consequences. This has made the country less democratic, more authoritarian, and decreasingly likely to solve complex problems that require a broad range of perspectives and thoughtful deliberation. The article explores how this abdication has occurred throughout U.S. history in a variety of areas, including U.S. foreign relations, the constitutional war powers, national emergencies, and delegations of power. This article is a revised and expanded version of the author’s presidential address at 2019 annual meeting of the Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association, delivered August 1, 2019, at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Resumen:A la hora de regular el modelo de democracia y los mecanismos de participaciónciudadana, la Constitución de 1978 fue conformista y prudente. Estableció un modelo de democracia representativa basado en la posibilidad de elegir representantes cada cuatro años, pero sin especiales fórmulas de control y exigencias de responsabilidad política hacia ellos. Por lo demás, estableció una regulación restrictiva de los instrumentos de democracia directa y semidirecta, en especial del referéndum y de la iniciativa legislativa popular.Cuatro décadas después, las exigencias ciudadanas se han intensificado, generándose un cierto déficit de confianza entre electores y representantes. El trabajo analiza los principales déficits de la Constitución de 1978 en la materia, realizando varias propuestas para mejorar la calidad democrática, que en buena parte implican una amplia reforma constitucional: eliminar las restricciones constitucionales del referéndum y la iniciativa popular, incorporar vías de exigencia de responsabilidad y rendición de cuentas, limitar los mandatos del presidente, asegurar la democracia interna de los partidos políticos, eliminar algunas prerrogativas de los parlamentarios, entre otros.Abstract:When regulating the model of democracy and the mechanisms of citizen participation, the Constitution of 1978 was conformist and prudent. It established a model of representative democracy based on the possibility of electing representatives every four years, but without special formulas of control and demands of political responsibility towards them. Moreover, it established a restrictive regulation of the instruments of direct and semi-direct democracy, especially the referendum and popular legislative initiative. Four decades later, citizen demands have intensified, generating a certain lack of trust between voters and representatives. The paper analyzes the main deficits of the 1978 Constitution in the matter, making several proposals to improve the democratic quality, which in large part imply a broad constitutional reform: eliminate the constitutional restrictions of the referendum and popular initiative, incorporate channels of exigency of responsibility and accountability, limiting the president’s mandates, ensuring the internal democracy of political parties, eliminating some prerogatives of parliamentarians, among others. Summary:1. Representative democracy, direct democracy institutions, and citizen participation in Spanish Constitution: context and conditioning factors. 2. Some citizen participation institutions. 2.1. Referendum. 2.2. Popular initiative of Law. 2.3. The open council. 2.4. Participation in Administration. 2.5. The jury and others. 3. Four decades later, a crisis of confidence? 4. The task of democratic regeneration: good governance, participation, trust. 5. Development and legal reforms. 6. A task always pending: constitutional reform. 7. Conclusions

The legal maxim “King can do no wrong” was in full force in the English constitutional law ever since the emergence of British Empire. The doctrine provided absolute immunity to the Crown. The king started losing his absolute prerogatives, in centuries long battle for power among the Crown and lord businessmen, which eventually resulted in the concept of liable government in the UK in the shape of the crown proceedings act 1947. On the contrary the US constitutional law is silent about the presidential immunity, following the maxim “no one, even the government is above the law”. However, the US Supreme Court is expanding the application of this doctrine by granting the immunity to the president in cases where his act falls within the constitutionally assigned duties along with negating it in cases where the act of president falls outside the outer perimeters of his constitutionally assigned duties.

The jurisdiction and tasks of the marshals (speakers) of the Old-Polish Sejm Chamber of Deputies were shaped in practice and thus were not regulated by law for many decades. The literature on the subject has always stressed that the ‘director’ of the Chamber of Deputies had to reckon with the will of his colleagues, that he did not have too many prerogatives, and the role he played during parliamentary debates resulted primarily from his personal qualities and social position. This article, however, deals with customary powers and prerogatives of the Sejm marshal, and those which in the eighteenth century began to be described in parliamentary constitutions. It is also an attempt to synthetically summarise the research conducted thus far into the ways of electing the marshal of the Sejm and the role he played in the Sejm from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century. It involved not only presiding over the sessions of the Chamber of Deputies and did not end with the closing of the Sejm session, but also included important activities after the session had finished, related to the drafting of the constitutions, and managing the election of the next marshal, which was no less important at the beginning of the next Sejm.

As a key consequence of government formation negotiations among executive and legislative actors, portfolio allocation offers a window to understand the impact of constitutional design and presidential prerogatives on cabinet dynamics across democratic regime types. This article uses Shugart and Carey’s emphasis on the implications of regime distinctions and institutional variation in presidential powers for executive-legislative relations as a starting point for an examination of the extent to which presidents influence government formation outcomes in parliamentary and semi-presidential systems. Many presidents in these political systems have some influence on government formation, which enables them to shape cabinet composition. Yet, whether these powers advantage presidential parties in reaping more cabinet spoils than their proportional share has yet to be investigated. Using data on 442 government formation situations in 23 European parliamentary and semi-presidential democracies during 1945–2015, this study finds that parties of strong presidents generally, or presidents formally empowered to choose a formateur, are more likely to be advantaged in the allocation of cabinet seats than their peers who are not allied with the head of state.

In the current system of public administration in Russia, the most important decisions are taken at the highest state level. A key role in making such decisions belongs to the Head of State — the President of the Russian Federation who, in accordance with the Constitution, determines the main directions regarding development of domestic and foreign policy of Russia. The President holds a special place in the system of public authorities, and he is not directly involved in any of three branches of power. However, he ensures their coordinated functioning and interaction.Direct implementation of decisions in the field of socio-economic development is exercised by the Government of the Russian Federation — the supreme executive body headed by the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation. The choice and appointment of the head of this body of state power is the exclusive prerogative of the Head of State established under the Constitution of the country. In turn, the daily work of the Government is the direct responsibility of the Prime Minister.A balanced and well-grounded activity of the President with regard to selecting a candidate to take the office of the Prime Minister, who must have a significant degree of confidence of the Head of State, have a successful professional experience, be ready to take such a responsible position, is essential for the successful solution of key objectives in the field of state construction.The study proposes the author’s periodization of the development of the Russian model of interaction between the President and the Prime Minister of the country, the main recommendations aimed at improving the efficiency in this field of state construction.

<p>The aim of this paper is the concept of the settlement of criminal cases committed Din Minimi Group. The amnesty is the prerogative of the President specified in the Constitution of 1945. Amnesty NRI is a form of pardon to political prisoners to be free from legal sanctions. The legal basis for amnesty stipulated in the Emergency Law No. 11 of 1954 on Amnesty and Abolition. The method used in this paper is a conceptual approach. Related to peace efforts in Aceh, the President has issued Presidential Decree No. 22 of 2005 on Amnesty and Abolition against GAM members. Once that happens again insurgency by Din Minimi caused dissatisfaction with the policy of the Governing of Aceh. Counterinsurgency is done by giving amnesty to the group Din Minimi so willing to surrender. When viewed in this aspect of the law, amnesty if forced to give to Din Minimi, it is destructive to the prevailing laws in Indonesia. Do not rule out the possibility of regulation will hit Indonesia polemic, so the solution had to pay attention to various aspects of both of the victim, the offender, and the community by not disregard the rule of law and justice.</p>

Since March 2016, the subject of South African state capture has received much attention from the political, business and scholarly community in the country and beyond. The vibrancy of this public and scholarly discourse was reignited by the claims by some politicians from the ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), that in the recent past, they were approached by the Gupta family (business moguls) for consideration in ministerial appointments. These revelations have since produced a dominant perception that the Gupta family wields an undue influence over the President of the Republic and by extension, the entire state machinery. This extends to the family and friends as well. While the Guptas ‘capture’ the state, ministers and premiers are not directly accountable to them by protocol, but only to the President as a constitutional prerogative to do so. The view on state capture is not uniformly accepted. One notes the discourse is dominated by Euro-American perspectives, purporting to create a misunderstanding of the current trajectory of business–state relations in South Africa. As a theoretical framework, Afrocentricity is adopted and used in this article to answer the following two central questions: (i) Is it a myth or reality that the Gupta family has captured the South African state? (ii) At which point should corporate influence in state affairs be considered as illegal? Methodologically, this is achieved through thematic content analysis on conversations and the prevailing discourses circulating within South Africa.

Abstract: The Accountability in The Use of The Prerogative of The President of The Judicial Sector in Ensuring The Independence of Judicial Power. Indonesia has Presidential system in its state. President leads both the nation and the state. These had been manifestation at 1945 constitution. President has the prerogative in judicial matters that intersect with rights owned by other branches of power, namely the Judiciary. This paper analyzed the prerogative of the President as a form of implementation of the President's power under the 1945 Constitution and examined the link prerogative of the President in the judicial field, whether or not to reduce or even amputate the independence of judicial power. In addition, this paper also going to analyze whether the implementation of the prerogative can be justified by the law.Abstrak: Pertanggungjawaban Penggunaan Hak Prerogatif Presiden di Bidang Yudikatif Dalam Menjamin Kemerdekaan Kekuasaan Kehakiman. Dengan diterapkannya sistem presidensial di Indonesia, Presiden memiliki jabatan sebagai kepala pemerintahan dan kepala negara sekaligus. Kedua jabatan tersebut termanifestasi dalam UUD 1945, diantaranya adalah hak prerogatif Presiden dalam bidang yudikatif yang beririsan dengan hak yang dimiliki cabang kekuasaan lain, yaitu Yudikatif. Tulisan ini menganilisis hak prerogatif Presiden sebagai suatu bentuk pelaksanaan kekuasaan Presiden berdasarkan UUD 1945 dan juga mengkaji kaitan hak prerogatif Presiden di bidang yudikatif ini, apakah dapat atau tidak mereduksi atau bahkan mengamputasi kemerdekaan kekuasaan kehakiman. Selain, tulisan ini juga hendak menganalisis apakah pelaksanaan hak prerogatif tersebut dapat dipertanggungjawabkan secara hukum. DOI: 10.15408/jch.v1i1.1446

IntroductionThe National School Chaplaincy and Student Welfare Program (NSCSWP) has been one of the most controversial Australian news topics in the past eight years. Newspaper representations of the NSCSWP have been prolific since the Program began in 2006/07. In my previous research into the NSCSWP, I found that initially the Program was well received. Following the High Court Challenge campaign, however, which began in late 2010, newspaper reports portrayed the NSCSWP in a predominantly negative light. These negative portrayals of the NSCSWP persisted in the lead up to the second High Court Challenge from 2013 until June 2014. During this time, newspaper representations portrayed the Program as an illegitimate form of counseling for state school students. However, I would argue that it was the newspaper representations of the NSCSWP that were in fact illegitimate. In this article, I contend that illegitimate representations of the NSCSWP became hegemonic because of a lack of evidence-based research conducted into the Program’s operation within state schools. Evidence-based research would have appropriately evaluated the Program’s progress and contributed to a legitimate and fair representation of chaplains in online newspapers. My analysis acknowledges the overwhelming prejudice against the NSCSWP. Whether chaplains were indeed a legitimate or illegitimate form of counseling is not my argument. My argument is that newspaper representations of the NSCSWP were illegitimate because news articles were presenting biased and incomplete information to the Australian community. Defining IllegitimacyIllegitimacy as a term has a long history dating back to early modern England, when it was commonly used to refer to children born out of wedlock (Pritchard 19). However, the definition of illegitimacy extends beyond this social phenomenon. Katie Pritchard states:The understanding of illegitimacy encompasses a kind of theoretical illegitimacy that is nothing to do with birth, referring to a kind of falseness or unsuitability that can be applied in many circumstances. (21)For this article, I will be using the term ‘illegitimate’ to describe how the newspaper representations of the NSCSWP were unsuitable because they were biased and lacked valuable information. Newspaper reports, which can be accessed online via the newspaper company’s website, include important authoritative voices. However, these voices expressed a certain opinion or concern, rather than delivering information that contributed to society’s understanding of the NSCSWP. Therefore, newspapers did not present legitimate facts, but instead a range of subjective opinions.The Illegitimacy of Newspaper ReportingThe ideological bias of newspapers has been recently examined regarding News Corp, the owner of national title The Australian, and many of the major Australian state newspapers: The Daily Telegraph; The Courier Mail, Herald Sun; The Advertiser; and Sunday Times. This organisation has recently been accused of showing bias in its newspaper articles (Meade). Meade quotes Mark Scott, the ABC Managing Director, who states:Given the aggressive editorial positioning of some of their mastheads and their willingness to adopt and pursue an editorial position, an ideological position and a market segmentation, you could argue that News Corporation newspapers have never been more assertive in exercising media power. (1)The market domination enjoyed by large organisations such as News Corp, and even Fairfax Media, leads to consistency in journalists’ writing on political, social, religious, and economic issues, which may predominate over the articles published by smaller newspapers. There is the concern that over time a particular point of view will be favoured. According to Mark Scott “a range of influential voices [is] essential to ensure a fair and open media” (Meade 1). Scott cites Rupert Murdoch who stated, back in 1967, that “freedom of the press mustn’t be one-sided just for a publisher to speak as he pleases, to try and bully the community” (Meade 1). Therefore, it has been acknowledged that a biased news article is illegitimate, and national news articles are to present facts, not the opinions of the newspaper.A Methodological Framework For this article I will utilise Norman Fairclough’s theory of Critical Discourse Analysis. Fairclough states:By ‘critical’ discourse analysis I mean discourse analysis which aims to systematically explore often opaque relationships of causality and determination between (a) discursive practices, events and texts and (b) wider social and cultural structures, relations and processes. (132-133)This method of analysis examines three assumptions: Existential, Propositional and Value. Existential assumptions make claims about what exists with regards to the problem, and refers to social phenomena such as globalisation or social cohesion (56). Propositional assumptions make predictions about what is or will be (55). Value assumptions simply evaluate things as good or bad, needed or not needed (57). These assumptions can be identified through analysis of the various direct quotes included within online newspaper articles.Direct quotations in newspaper articles available online often represent polarised views demonstrating whether people agree or disagree with the topic being discussed. The selection, or framing, of dominant voices within an article can be used to construct or re-present certain ideologies (Entman, 165). Entman explains that “we can define framing as the process of culling a few elements of perceived reality and assembling a narrative that highlights connections among them to promote a particular interpretation” (164). The framing of direct quotes within an article, therefore, assists the reader in identifying the article’s bias. The National School Chaplaincy and Student Welfare ProgramThe National School Chaplaincy Program was first established in 2006 by the Howard Government, and in 2011 Julia Gillard included secular youth workers, expanding it from 2012 to become the National School Chaplaincy and Student Welfare Program. According to the National School Chaplaincy and Student Welfare Guidelines, the Program aimed to “assist school communities to provide pastoral care and general spiritual, social and emotional comfort to all students, irrespective of their faith or beliefs” (6). Chaplaincy in Australia has been a predominantly Christian counseling service with Christianity being the most commonly practiced religion in Australia (Australian Bureau of Statistics). However, there have been chaplains representing other faiths such as Islam, Judaism and Buddhism (Australian Government 8). Chaplains were chosen by their respective schools and were partly funded by the Government to provide support to students and staff.State Newspaper Articles Online: Representations 2013-2014My sample of articles came from nine state newspapers with an online presence: The Sydney Morning Herald, Brisbane Courier Mail, Adelaide Advertiser, Melbourne Age, Northern Times, The Australian, The West Australian, The Daily Telegraph, and The Mercury. A total of 36 articles were collected, from the newspaper’s Website, for 2013 and 2014, and were divided into two categories.The two categories are Supportive (of the Program) and Unsupportive (of the Program). In 2013, two articles were supportive of the Program, whereas in 2014 there were four. In 2013 three articles were unsupportive of the Program, whereas in 2014 there were 27 unsupportive articles, representing the growing interest in the scheme in the final lead up to the High Court Challenge in 2014. An online newspaper article from 2013, which portrays the NSCSWP and in particular chaplains as illegitimate, is Call for Naked School Chaplain to Be Defrocked (Domjen). This article explains how an off-duty school chaplain was preaching naked in the main street of a country town in NSW. The NSW Teachers Federation President Maurie Mulheron, and Parents and Citizens Association publicity officer Rachael Sowden were quoted in this article. It is through their direct quotes that the illegitimacy of chaplaincy is framed. President Mulheron states:We believe the chaplaincy program is wrong and that money should be used for an increase in school-based counsellors. Obviously the right checks and balances are not in place. (1)When President Mulheron states “We” it is unclear to the reader as to whether he is referring to all NSW Teachers or the organisation’s administrators. The reader is left to make their own assumptions about whom he is referring to. The President also makes a value assumption that the money would be better spent on school-based counselors, thus expressing his own opinion that they are a better option. A propositional assumption is made when he claims that the “right checks and balances are not in place”, but is he basing his claim on this one incident or is there other research to support this assumption?Perhaps this naked chaplain appeared fine when the school hired him, perhaps he does not have a previous record of inappropriate behaviour, perhaps it was an isolated incident. The reader is not given any background information on this chaplain and is therefore meant to take the President’s assumptions as legitimate fact. Ms Sowden, representing the Parents’ and Citizens’ Association, also expresses the same assumptions and concerns. Ms Sowden states:We have great concerns about the chaplain scheme - many parents do. We are concerned about whether they go through the same processes as teachers in terms of working with children checks and their suitability to the position, and this case highlights that.Ms Sowden makes a propositional assumption that many parents and citizens are concerned about the Program. It would be interesting to know what the Parents and Citizens Association was doing about this, considering the choice to have a chaplain is a decision made by the school community? Ms Sowden also asks whether chaplains “go through the same processes as teachers in terms of working with children checks and their suitability to the position”. Chaplains do not go through the same process as teachers in their training as they have a different role in the school. However, chaplains do require a Certificate IV in Pastoral Care as well as a Working with Children Check because they are in close proximity to children, and are being paid for their school counseling service (Working with Children Check). Ms Sowden’s value assumption that chaplains are unsuitable for the position is based on her own limited understanding of their qualifications, which she admits to not knowing. In fact, to be appointed to represent parents and citizens and to even voice their concerns, but not know the qualifications of chaplains in her community, is an interesting area of ignorance.This article has been framed to evaluate the actions of all chaplains through the example of a publicly-naked chaplain, discussed without context in this article. The Program is portrayed as hiring unsuitable and thus illegitimate chaplains. However, the quotes are based on concerns and assumptions that are unfounded, and are fears presented as facts. Therefore the representation is illegitimate because it does not report any information that the public can use to better understand the NSCSWP, or even to understand the circumstances surrounding the chaplain who preached naked in the street. Another article from 2014, which represents chaplains as illegitimate, is Push to Divert Chaplain Cash to School Councillors (Paine). This article focuses on the comments of the Tasmanian Association of State School Organisations President Jenny Eddington, and the Australian Education Union President Angelo Gavrielatos. These dominant voices within the Tasmanian and Australian communities are chosen to express their opinion that the money once used for chaplains should now be used to fund psychologists in schools. AEU President Angelo Gavrielatos states: Apart from undermining our secular traditions, this additional funding should have been allocated to schools to better meet the educational needs of students with trained, specialist staff.Mr Gavrielatos makes a propositional assumption that chaplains are untrained staff and are thus illegitimate staff. However, chaplains are trained and specialise in providing counseling services. Thus, through his call for “trained, specialist staff” he aims to delegitimize the training of chaplains. Mr Gavrielatos also makes a value assumption when he claims that the funding put towards the NSCSWP undermines “our secular traditions”. “Secular traditions” is an existential assumption in positioning that Australians have secular traditions, and that these do not involve chaplaincy because the Australian Government is not supposed to support religion. The Australian Bureau of Statistics states:Enlightenment principles promoted a secular government, detached from the church, that encouraged tolerance and supported religious pluralism, including the right to practice no religion. By Federation, this diversity was enshrined in the Australian Constitution, which says that the Commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion. (1)The funding of the Program was a contentious issue from the time of its inception; although it could be argued that it was the prerogative of the Government to support the practice of diverse cultural and religious beliefs by allowing schools to hire religious counselors of their choice. Given that not every student is Christian some would perhaps benefit from chaplains or counselors representing other faiths.These news articles have selected dominant voices to construct and promote an ideology of chaplains as an illegitimate resource for school communities. In these newspaper reports existential, propositional and value assumptions were expressed by dominant voices who expressed concern about the role and behaviour of chaplains in schools. However, research into the Program and its operation within each state may have avoided the representation of unfounded and illegitimate assumptions.Evidence-Based Research: Avoiding Illegitimacy Over the course of the Chaplaincy Program various resources, such as reports and journal articles attempted to provide evidence of how the NSCSWP was funded and operated within state schools.The Department of Education received frequent progress reports by state schools who hired chaplains, although this information was not made available to the public. However, in 2011 then Education Minister Peter Garrett released a discussion paper informing Australians about the current set up of the Program and how the community could have their say on the Program’s fulfillment from 2012-2014. The discussion paper was reported on by The Australian, which portrayed the Program as not catering to the needs of Australian youth because chaplains are predominantly Christian (Ferrari). The newspaper report focuses on the concerns of Australian communities regarding the funding, and qualifications of chaplains, and the cost of the Program. Thus, the Program appeared illegitimate and as though it could not cater to the Australian community’s expectations.Reports conducted by organisations external to the Education Department tried to examine schools communities’ expectations and experiences of the Program. One such report was written in 2009 by Dr Philip Hughes and Professor Margaret Sims from Edith Cowan University who aimed to examine how Australian schools evaluated the Program, and the role of chaplains, but their report excluded the state of NSW.Hughes and Sims state that chaplains’ “contribution was widely appreciated” by schools (6). This report attempted to provide a legitimate and independent account of the Program, however, the report was deemed biased by NSW Greens MLC, Dr John Kaye who remarked that the study was “deeply flawed” and lacked independence (Thielking & MacKenzie 1). According to critics, the study focussed on the positive benefits of chaplains, but the only benefit that was unique to them was that they were religious (The Greens). The study also neglected to report that Hughes was an employee of the Christian Research Association and that his background could impede his objectivity. In the same year, 2009, ACCESS ministries published a report titled: The value of chaplains in Victorian schools. The independent research conducted by Social Compass covers: “the value of chaplains; their social, spiritual and academic impacts; the difference made to the health, well being and quality of life of students; and the contributions made to strengthen communities” (2).This study promoted a positive view of chaplaincy within schools and tried to report on a portion of the community’s experiences with chaplains. However, it was limited in that it pertains only to Victorian schools and received very little media attention online. Even if this information were available online it would have only related to Victoria. Further research conducted into chaplaincy has been published in the Journal of Christian Education. This journal contains many articles on chaplaincy, but these are not easily available online as they require a subscription. The findings from these articles have not been published in newspaper articles online and have therefore not been made available to the general public. The Christian bias of the journal may have also contributed to its contents being neglected by news articles made available online, although they might have assisted in providing a more balanced representation of the NSCSWP.The extent of the research conducted into The National School Chaplaincy and Student Welfare Program has not been entirely delineated here, but these are some of the prominent resources. Nonetheless, the rigorous evaluation of the contribution of the NSCSWP was minimal, and the quality of its evaluation predominantly biased.Robert Slavin states that school program evaluations must “produce reliable, unbiased, and meaningful information on the strength of evidence behind each program” (1). Unfortunately, the research conducted into the Chaplaincy Program was not free from bias, consistent or properly designed in a way that legitimately evaluated the NSCSWP. According to Monica Thielking and David MacKenzie:The fact is that the provision of support services for students in Australian schools has never been subjected to serious research and evaluation, and any analysis is made more difficult by the fact that the various states and territories deploy somewhat different models. (1)Thus, the information on the Chaplaincy Program’s progress and the responsibilities of chaplains in schools was not comprehensive or accurate enough to be appropriately reported in newspapers available online. Therefore, newspaper articles used quotes and information based on a limited understanding of the Program, which in turn produced illegitimate representations of the NSCSWP.ConclusionNewspaper reports available online drew conclusions about the Program’s effectiveness, which had not been appropriately tested. If research had been made available to the public, or published within state-based media online, Australians would have had a more legitimate understanding of the Program’s operation within state education, even if that understanding could not have changed the High Court ruling.The Chaplaincy Program demonstrates how a lack of evidence-based research allows the media to construct illegitimate representations based on promoting the assumptions of dominant, and I would argue the loudest, voices, in society. The bias represented in a consistent approach adopted by newspapers owned by dominant media companies, is a factor in the re-presentation and promotion of certain ideologies. This was made evident by the fact that, in 2014, across nine state newspapers available online, 27 articles were unsupportive of the Program as opposed to only four articles that were supportive. Audiences need to be presented with facts rather than opinions, which are based on very little research. Hopefully newspaper reporting will change in the future to offer audiences a more legitimate representation of news events. ReferencesACCESS Ministries. The Value of Chaplains in Victorian Schools. NSW, 2009. Australian Bureau of Statistics. "Reflecting a Nation: Stories from the 2011 Census, 2012–2013." 2012. Australian Government. National School Chaplaincy Program: A Discussion Paper. Australia: Commonwealth of Australian, 2011. Chaplaincy Australia. "Training." n.d. Commonwealth of Australia. National School Chaplaincy and Student Welfare Program Guidelines. Australia: Australian Government, 2012. Domjen, Briana. “Call for Naked School Chaplain to Be Defrocked.” The Australian 3 Feb. 2013: 1.Entman, Robert. "Framing Bias: Media in the Distribution of Power." Journal of Communications 1 (2007): 163-73.Fairclough, Norman. Analysing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research. London: Longman, 2003.Ferrari, Justine. "School Chaplains Not Representative." The Australian 12 Feb. 2011: 1.Hughes, Philip, and Margaret Sims. The Effectivess of Chaplaincy: As Provided by the National School Chaplaincy Association to Government Schools in Australia. Perth: Edith Cowan University, 2009.Meade, Amanda. "Mark Scott: News Corp Papers Never More Aggressive than Now." The Guardian 3 Oct. 2014: 1.Paine, Michelle. “Push to Divert Chaplain Cash to School Councillors.” The Mercury 21 Jun. 2014: 1.Pritchard, Katie. "Legitimacy, Illegitimacy and Sovereignty in Shakespeare’s British Plays." U of Manchester, 2011.Slavin, Robert. "Perspectives on Evidence-Based Research in Education: What Works? Issues in Synthesizing Educational Program Evaluations." Educational Researcher 37.1 (2008): 5-14. The Greens. "Chaplaincy Program Study 'Flawed and Biased': Conclusions Not Justified." n.d. Thielking, Monica, and David MacKenzie. “School Chaplains: Time to Look at the Evidence.” 2011. Working with Children Check. "Categories of Work." 2008.