bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The essence of democracy
Authors: Hasbach Wilhelm 
Published: May 2006

Mr. W. J. Shepard, in a review of my work, Die moderne Demokratie, remarks that I have forgotten its spirit in the study of its forms. “It is not the vitalizing spirit,” he writes, “the impelling motive force, the broadly based popular sentiment of democracy that is of interest, but only the forms and mechanism ‥‥ of democratic-republican states.” Now I have in the fifth chapter of the second book presented the theory of political democracy, in the sixth that of social democracy, and in the seventh that of democratic socialism; and in the first of these three chapters I have discussed popular sovereignty and active citizenship, the supremacy of the majority in a democracy, the unlimited constituent power of the people (pouvoir constituant), in which European science has conceived the essence of this form of the state to reside in contradistinction to other forms. But Mr. Shepard has a different conception of its nature. He has raised an interesting question in this connection which I should like to discuss in the following pages.Brief though his statement on this point is, no one can doubt that he considers the supremacy of public opinion as the essence of democracy, since he writes: “No discussion of the nature, elements and effects of public opinion, no appreciation of the spirit of democracy is to be found in the covers of this volume.” As a matter of fact I have treated of this subject in the above-mentioned first division of the fifth chapter, which is devoted to the discussion of popular sovereignty, though certainly in the brief compass which appeared to me sufficient for the understanding of the nature of democracy.
Repeal of the Judiciary Act of 1801
Authors: Carpenter William S. 
Published: May 2006

The intent of the framers of the judiciary act of 1801 has been to the present day a matter of some doubt. On the one hand it has been shown that alterations in the judiciary system of the United States had long been agitated before the failure of the Federalist party in the elections of 1800. Soon after the establishment of federal courts in 1789 relief had been sought by the justices of the supreme court from the arduous duties necessitated in riding the circuits. In 1799 a bill designed to establish a system of circuit courts was reported upon which action was postponed. But this later became the basis for the act of 1801. It has, therefore, been contended that, quite apart from the political advantage given the Federalists by the passage of the act of 1801, such changes in the judiciary system were warranted by necessity.At the same time it is equally clear that the amount of business before the courts of the United States, although it had been excessive, had begun to decline. No further prosecutions were to be expected under the alien and sedition acts, and a decrease in the number of suits before the federal courts involving other questions was observed even before the accession of Jefferson to the presidency.
State Centralization in North Carolina
Authors: Wager Paul W. 
Published: May 2006

In recent years, two pronounced tendencies have been manifest in the relation of the states to the local governments. One has been increased state aid for the support of functions which have hitherto been recognized as local functions, particularly roads and schools. These enlarged state grants have been made partly to relieve the burden of local taxation, partly in recognition of a larger responsibility on the part of the state, and partly to stimulate a higher quality of service. In order to insure the realization of the last-mentioned purpose, the aid has usually been conditioned on the fulfillment of certain minimum requirements.The second tendency has been for the state to assume closer supervision over the finances of local government. This greater solicitude on the part of the state in respect to local finances has sprung from a number of reasons, two of which are the tremendous increase in the size of local funds since the beginning of the road-building era and the frequent misuse of the debt-incurring privilege.
Developments in Public Administration, 1929
Authors: White Leonard D. 
Published: May 2006

American public administration continues to be the subject of an unparalleled degree of attention. In an address before the Governmental Research Conference in November, 1929, surveying administrative progress, Dr. Luther Gulick declared: “As a nation, we have adopted in conspicuous degree the habit of research. This is a milestone in our progress.” Our intense preoccupation with our administrative institutions is undoubtedly in part a reflection of their imperfection, but in part also a typical American conviction that there are no discoverable limits, as yet, to the opportunity for perfection.On a national scale, the present tendency is signalized by the appointment by President Hoover of the National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement, on the basis of whose first reports the President recommended, among other things, the transfer of the prohibition unit from the Treasury Department to the Department of Justice, modification of federal court structure to relieve congestion, and consolidation of frontier services. The President has also called a White House Conference on Child Health and Protection, which is to meet in 1930, and for which much preparatory investigation was carried on in 1929. More recently, the President appointed a Commission on Social Trends, and directed it to present an analysis of social movements broadly parallel to the study of recent economic trends. Several units of this study will be devoted to aspects of public administration.An enlarged program of research in public administration was inaugurated at the University of California under the direction of Professor Samuel C. May, with the assistance of a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.
The German Reichstag Elections of 1930
Authors: Pollock James K. 
Published: May 2006

Casting the largest popular vote yet recorded in any election in Germany, the German people elected on Sunday, September 14, 1930, the fifth Reichstag under the Weimar constitution. Using Article 48, the Brüning government had put into effect certain emergency measures which it considered necessary to alleviate the existing economic situation. But when called upon to pass upon these decrees, the Reichstag rejected them; whereupon the President, on the advice of the cabinet, dissolved the Reichstag and ordered new elections.The campaign occurred in a time of serious economic depression. Nearly three million unemployed persons were in receipt of government relief, either national or local. Taxes had been increased, salaries decreased, and there was widespread dissatisfaction. The government headed by Chancellor Brüning, from its inception a minority cabinet, appealed to the country to return to power with increased strength the parties which had given it support. On the other hand, the government was severely attacked by the Social Democrats for its use of Article 48; by the Nationalists because of its support of the Young Plan; by the Communists on general principles; and last, but not least, by the National Socialists led by Adolf Hitler, not on general principles, but without any principles at all! In many respects this election resembled the May election of 1924 more closely than the election of 1928.Not only was the election of critical importance to Germany and the world from an economic point of view, but it was also of great moment in the evolution of German political parties and democratic institutions in general.
Our Bungling Electoral System
Authors: Allen Joseph Cady 
Published: May 2006

According to popular parlance, we elect a President and vice-president, on the Tuesday following the first Monday of November of each fourth year, by vote of the people. It is well known however that, technically speaking, we do not choose these officers on that day or at any time by popular suffrage. Instead of that, we choose in each state a committee that is called the electoral college; and these electors meet on the second Monday of January and elect the President and vice-president by ballot. The theory of the Constitution is that these electors are not to be pledged or obligated to vote for any particular person, but that they and not the people shall really make the choice.But, practically from the start, and contrary to the expectation of those who framed the Constitution, the choice of President and vice-president was seized by state legislatures and afterwards transferred to the people, through the device of appointing electors that were virtually pledged to designated candidates. So the electoral colleges have failed of their purpose and become a useless complication. And not only are they useless, but objectionable also and dangerous in many and serious ways.This paper will endeavor to show that our present system of presidential election is bad in every step of the process, viz. in a. the appointment of the electors, b. the membership and proceedings of the electoral colleges, c. the count of the vote in congress, d. the interval between the election and the time when the President takes office, and e. the election by the house of representatives in case the electors fail to give a majority vote to any candidate.
The Atomic Theory of Society
Authors: Orton William 
Published: May 2006

In few affairs is political wisdom so put to the test as in the treatment of institutions that are growing old. Age in these cases has little to do with mere antiquity: the forms of social life are subject to no set term of years. It is a matter of continuing adaptability. Some institutions, like the British monarchy, possess this attribute in an astounding degree. Others, like the House of Lords, betray a hardening of the arteries that bodes ill for their survival in times of rapid change. For the speed of social change affects not only their physical and conceptual environment; it acts also upon, and through, the temper of the politicians and the public. In such periods society will sometimes administer a sudden coup de grâce to its more recalcitrant institutions, abolishing at one stroke both the abuses they have inflicted and the garnered wisdom they enshrine. The loss involved in these moments is seldom evident until long after, when it has to be made good ab ovo.To such moods the Gallic genius is peculiarly liable; and it was in one of them that the French crashed open the gates of the nineteenth century and nailed the atomic theory of society to the lintel. “There are no longer any guilds in the state, but only the private interest of each individual and the general interest. No one may arouse in the citizens any intermediate interest, or separate them from the public weal by corporate sentiment.”
The Concept of “International Government”
Authors: Potter Pitman B. 
Published: May 2006

There was recently published in the pages of this Review an article from the pen of Professor William E. Rappard, entitled “The Beginnings of International Government,” in which the author took issue with the use of that phrase and challenged the validity of the concept to which it refers. He took as his text, more or less, a volume published in the United States some years back which employed the contested phrase in its title. And he concluded that the term is a misnomer, and that the phenomenon referred to does not—in the possible alternative sense of supernational government—exist today to any appreciable extent.There has subsequently appeared another volume carrying the neat title “International Government;” and another volume with somewhat the same designation is promised shortly. Some ten years ago, the writer of the present comment, in composing a similar work, was compelled to face the problems of theory and of verbal expression here involved, and decided in favor of “International Organization.” To that he has adhered in subsequent editions, with ample reference to the functional side of international government (“procedure,” “coöperation”), but, as originally, for reasons not involving a denial of the validity of the contested concept. He would like to discuss briefly the criticism of the idea of “international government” offered in his accustomed brilliant and trenchant style by Professor Rappard.The main difficulty lies not so much in accepting the definition of government adopted by Professor Rappard (orderly exercise of authority); but that is the first point at which the writer would take issue.
Kentucky Justices of the Peace
Authors: Manning J. W. 
Published: May 2006

The justice of the peace is one of the most important public officials in Kentucky. He is an officer whose election, compensation, term, and qualifications are set forth in the constitution. He is both a judicial and an administrative officer, presiding over his own court for the trial of petty civil and criminal cases, and serving as a member of the fiscal court, or county board. County judicial, legislative, and administrative functions are rolled into one in the person of the justice of the peace. In this respect, the county system of government in Kentucky has a striking resemblance to the English county of the thirteenth century.The Kentucky fiscal court is normally a body consisting of the justices of the peace in a county together with the county judge, and having the usual powers conferred upon boards of county commissioners or supervisors in the other states. The constitution provides that each county shall be divided into districts in such manner as the general assembly may direct, and that in each district one justice of the peace shall be elected, with the further requirement that no county shall have fewer than three nor more than eight districts. But in addition, the constitution provides that a county may have a fiscal court composed of three commissioners, elected at large from the county, and the county judge.
Some Problems of Article XXIV of the Covenant
Authors: Bailey S. H. 
Published: May 2006

The majority of the early schemes for a general international organization, or League of Nations, before the Covenant envisaged its functions as principally negative—chiefly the general function of preventing war by peaceful settlement of international disputes. Little or no attention was paid before the Covenant to potentialities of positive and coördinated international action. This is all the more remarkable in view of the growing number of spheres to which international action had already been extended. Apart from Schücking and Mr. L. Woolf, only the proposals of the triumvirate of the “Union des Associations Internationales,” M. Fried, M. Paul Otlet, and M. La Fontaine, seriously urged the necessity of rational coördination and positive coöperation. Unfortunately, before the war these proposals failed to receive the serious attention which they merited. The object of the Union was well founded. Already by 1914, there existed over twenty “public unions” and nearly 150 “private associations;” while the growth in the number of international conferences revealed the volume of international activity. Moreover, the dispersion of this activity and the lack of coördination had led to unfortunate overlapping. Three active organizations were occupied with the international regulation of railways, and two with agriculture. The scientific unions worked independently of any comprehensive plan.But the absence of coördination was not the only weakness apparent in the pre-war situation. The independence of each organization and the lack of a central authority increased the difficulties of working. Elaborate negotiations necessarily preceded the summoning of an international conference, even though the conventional constitution provided for periodic but regular meetings. Further, with the exception of one or two of the most powerful unions, the force of the influence which could be brought to bear on governments was weakened by the isolation.of each union. Finally, the absence of a collective political authority often barred the way to progress in international technical organization.
Congressional Investigations During Franklin D. Roosevelt's First Term
Authors: McGeary M. Nelson 
Published: May 2006

Much has been written on Congressional investigations. The theoretical questions connected with them have been explored. Their place in our governmental system has been reasonably well established.Recent developments give a new perspective. The high point of Congressional investigations, so far as the previous literature was concerned, came in a time of stagnating major party politics. There was an attitude of “stand by” on the part of the Administration; defeatism pervaded the official minority. Conditions in the Senate, however, permitted the dissident Republicans, in combination with the Democrats, to constitute an intermittent majority for purposes of criticism if not of construction. When malfeasance and misfeasance were allowed to creep into administration, meeting little resistance from within, the check had to come from without, and it came in the form of Congressional investigations.
County and Township Government in 1937
Authors: Snider Clyde F. 
Published: May 2006

Problems of county and township government continued, during 1937, to attract considerable attention from state legislators, political scientists, and the general public. The legislative sessions of the year were productive of a large number of statutes relating to various aspects of local government and administration; and in several instances local units acted under powers previously granted in adopting governmental forms or procedures more suitable to their needs. Notwithstanding a few backward steps and the fact that progress continued to be slow, the general trend was in the direction of improvement. Clearly in evidence was a tendency to confer additional powers and duties upon the local units; and accompanying this increase in functions were efforts to supply additional revenue, modernize the machinery of government, and provide effective means of control.The developments of the year will be summarized, as were those for the biennium 1935–36, under the following headings: (1) areas; (2) organization and personnel; (3) functions; (4) finance; (5) optional charters; and (6) intergovernmental relations. To facilitate comparison, the subdivisional arrangement of the article of last year, in so far as it is applicable, will also be followed.Territorial Consolidation. The need for reducing the number of local government units through consolidation was given most attention in Pennsylvania. Existing laws governing the formation of new townships were amended to preclude the division of existing townships and to expedite consolidation. Other legislation was intended to facilitate the annexation of first-class townships or parts thereof to contiguous cities or boroughs. First legislative approval was given to a proposed constitutional amendment providing that no new counties shall be created except through the consolidation of existing counties. A proposed amendment for the consolidation of Philadelphia county with the city of Philadelphia was given second legislative passage, only to be rejected by the voters in the November election.
The Legal and Political Philosophy of Leonard Nelson
Authors: Gresh Levi D. 
Published: May 2006

The legal philosophy of Nelson is fundamentally a liberal doctrine. It is, on the one hand, opposed to the philosophy which places a supreme trust in human reason and which believes that man can sit down and codify a system of laws in which there will be no gaps; and, on the other, it is opposed to a belief in the necessary rationality of existing institutions in the onward sweep of human history, the idea which was so dear to the Historical School of jurisprudence.Nelson is aNaturrechtlehrerin the sense that he believes in the existence of metajuristic criteria of justice. That there are elemental principles of justice which are universal, and according to which laws are either just or unjust, decisions either right or wrong, Nelson believes cannot be denied. The moment we admit the injustice of a statute, or a judicial decision, we admit that we have used a criterion on which to base our opinion. The mistake we make, however, is to suppose that we can discover criteria, either empirically or logically.
Congressional Control of the Public Service
Authors: White Leonard D. 
Published: May 2006

Since the English Revolution of 1688, it has been a part of the Anglo-American tradition that elected representative assemblies control the policies and acts of the executive branch of the government. This doctrine was firmly embedded in the American state and federal constitutions. With some wartime reservations, it has been universally accepted throughout our country. At the present time, however, there is an uneasy feeling that practice does not square with theory. There is even a suspicion that practice contradicts theory—that a vast body of officials has in fact escaped the possibility of control by the people's representatives.The trends of the last half-century have certainly complicated the problem of congressional authority over administration. This has occurred in part because administration has made impressive gains in effective organization and operation, while relatively Congress has stood still. Within the administrative system there has developed a capacity for self-direction which might well challenge the dominance of Congress, if Congress continues to be the laggard partner in the governmental team.
The Dilemma of the Peace-Seekers
Authors: Schuman Frederick L. 
Published: May 2006

“Right without Might is weakness,” wrote Blaise Pascal three centuries ago. But “Might without Right is tyranny. We must therefore combine Right and Might, making what is Right mighty and what is mighty Right.” To achieve such a combination in the community of nations is, by common consent, the major problem of world politics in our time. Outside of the dwindling ranks of the anarchists, few would any longer dispute the propositions that peace among men is unattainable without the organization of men into government, possessed of effective power to enforce law, and that justice among men is unattainable without the subordination of government itself to law, reflecting men's conception of right. How these goals are to be reached among nations is still a matter of controversy. But after participating in two world wars against tyrants, dedicated to world unity through conquest, most Americans are now agreed that peace and justice among nations depend upon order and law among nations and that these, in turn, depend upon the efficacy of what has long been called “international organization” or, more optimistically, “international government.”The Great Debate of 1944–45, like that of 1919–20, is not over ends, but over means. How can an effective world organization be brought into being, and how can it be made to function for the maintenance of peace, the enforcement of law, and the achievement of justice? In an age whose slogan in grappling with its most fateful problems has too often been “too little and too late,” it is not strange that American discussion of the problem of world order has largely taken the form of old disputes as to the terms upon which the United States should assume membership in an association or league of nations to keep the peace. The tacit assumption behind the discussion is that such a partnership of sovereignties can and will keep peace, enforce law, and promote justice if only it be organized with sufficient cleverness and joined by a sufficient number of states.