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How are we to evaluate the project of common good constitutionalism? This new movement, which dismisses positivism and liberalism, progressivism and originalism, aims to overturn the entire canon of modern political and constitutional theory. In its place, it aims to restore a classical tradition of natural law jurisprudence, which is said to have been lost over the last century of constitutional law and practice. In so doing it uses one of liberalism's own juristic heroes, Ronald Dworkin, in order to free conservatism from the tethers of fidelity to constitutional text and the principle of popular sovereignty underwriting it. Common good constitutionalism's intervention in the constitutional culture wars of the present is authoritarian not because of its opposition to liberalism, but because of its steadfast refusal of any link between constitutional authority and democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper probes the position of the individual, and of their interests and rights, within a common good constitutionalism framework. To do so, it draws on long-running debates within property law and theory concerning the relative priority to be afforded to the individual and to the common good, with many of the concerns of Common Good Constitutionalism already in the mainstream of property law and theory. It compares debate about the existence, nature, and content of property's "social function," and its doctrinal manifestations, to Vermeule's broad arguments about the common good dimensions of constitutionalism. Specifically, it analyzes the effectiveness and purpose of an "internal limitation" strategy, and the risk of excessive individual subordination to collective interests. Finally, it assesses how central a role coercive legal measures should play in encouraging virtuous conduct within a common good constitutionalism framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The classical tradition of law and government supports lawful authority and condemns usurpation. But the common good sometimes provides a reason to sweep aside existing constitutional arrangements. This article considers the way in which authority and usurpation feature in Adrian Vermeule's recent book, Common Good Constitutionalism , and thus reflects on the nature of constitutional government. Vermeule's work combines a commendable philosophy of government with a questionable philosophy of legal reasoning, which weakens the force of Vermeule's account of American constitutional law and practice. Reflection on the scope of the common good—on whose common good counts—has important implications for how, and for whom, authority should be exercised. Collective agency is important in securing the common good and representative democracy is an important means to unite a people in common action for their good. Constitutional government should aim to command popular support. Forms of constitutional government are contingent, but usurpation of lawful public authority is an evil that should be avoided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emerging school of "common good constitutionalism" takes a classical natural law approach of identifying the central case of law and constitutionalism, recognizing that a state may make positive law in part based on circumstance, convenience, or a need for social coordination. While law under the classical approach is rooted in realizing the common good of the complete community, this ideal does not dictate all of law's specifics. Nevertheless, there is a difficulty within the emerging school of common good constitutionalism in the way it seeks to respect the diversity of constitutional orders while retaining a single reference point of the common good. Adrian Vermeule and others appeal to positive law as the determinatio through which public authorities make concrete the state's pursuit of the common good. But there is often a gulf between common good principles and the determinatio of law. The move from principles to the legitimacy or justness of positive law lies, for Vermeule, in joining-up the central case method of natural law with a singular notion of the common good. The article criticizes this reliance, arguing that the central case method cannot be used to determine law in the sense of the determinatio of positive law. In his articulation of central case methodology, John Finnis is, by contrast, careful to leave space for varieties of coordination and forms of justice, such that the central case method plays a limited role in establishing what counts as common goods. Rather, the central case method identifies what law is. The same delicacy is present in Aquinas, who does not in fact define law as an ordinance of reason for the common good in the way that common good constitutionalists so far would like it to mean, because there are no articles in Latin grammar. In this regard, common good constitutionalism's mistake is unfortunately in keeping with the majority of jurisprudence, which commits the logical fallacy that an internally consistent account of law is externally authoritative—in other words, that harmony in the way in which laws and legal principles relate to themselves can act as a basis to the body politic's prioritization of some goods over others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vermeule argues that law should uphold community morality, and critiques originalists and progressivists for losing sight of this. Though his critique is powerful, the book shares those problems Vermeule diagnoses in the work of others. As with the originalists, Vermeule's theory of interpretation is not yet able to provide guidance. We need to know more about its content and its moral base to evaluate its attractions. Additionally, Vermeule underplays strong similarities between progressivists and his own scholarship. Acknowledging these similarities draws attention to a pair of shared institutional problems. First, the moral cost in taking decisions away from individuals and passing them to state institutions: using law to regulate an issue runs the risk of error, and may produce morally significant side-effects by coercively limiting people's options. Secondly, morality speaks to the institutional process by which decisions are produced as well as their substance: the way we decide is important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demand for children’s reading materials that are representative of the diverse population of South Africa and that address language and affordability issues has given rise to several book creation initiatives by local nonprofits. Illustration often plays an essential part in the creation of such reading materials. To expand the impact of their work, certain initiatives employ open licensing strategies. This article explores how illustrators perceive their role in the creation of books for South African readers through book creation initiatives and investigates their views of open licensing. An online questionnaire was used to collect information pertaining to the experiences of book creation initiatives and illustrators’ views on open licensing. Data was gathered from thirty-two illustrators and thematically analyzed. Participating illustrators were generally aware of the value of their contribution to such projects, and individual social responsibility and personal value seemed to mitigate concerns over licensing, adaptation, or remuneration. Illustrators aligned themselves with the mission and vision of the initiatives, and responses indicated that a deliberate value exchange occurred in initiatives through the methodologies used in the creation of the books and the resulting artifacts. However, findings also indicated that such models may not be a financially viable option for extended participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

UNESCO's 2021 Report Reimagining our futures together: A new social contract for education calls for principled dialogue and laudable commitment to education as a common good. At its heart is the call for a new social contract for education. This article interrogates the governance implications of such a principled social contract in the contemporary global education policy context, marked by power asymmetries between various actors, including state actors, non-state actors, and international agencies. It identifies several governance challenges in realizing this new social contract in the current dominant global discourse and in the international educational cooperation architecture. In light of these analyses, this article argues for an alternative framing of the governance of such a social contract, based on the principles of recognition, redistribution, and representation. The elements of such an approach, while reflected in the report, are not consolidated. This framing is one way through which the called-for new social contact can gain significant policy traction for social justice and the right to quality education for all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewing the social contract for education is the central call of the Reimagining Our Futures Together: A New Social Contract for Education report from the International Commission on the Futures of Education. The International Commission outlines two foundational principles for such renewal: an expanded vision of the right to education throughout life, and education as a public endeavour and a common good, reflecting humanity's wide diversity of ways of knowing, living, and being. These principles provide a common thread for the think pieces in this issue, which attempt to unpack the idea of a new social contract from a variety of positions. The pieces are discussed around six themes: reorienting educational purpose; governing diverging motivations; recasting leadership and participation; envisioning new possibilities for higher education; enriching the knowledge commons; and unleashing imagination beyond the status quo. This introductory article argues that rebuilding and strengthening trust is the watchword of any effort to renew a social contract for just and equitable futures of education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trust in the potential of education as a common good is the cornerstone of the bond between citizens and their institutions. Changing current patterns entails lifting barriers to a culture of peace and uprooting all forms of violence. Education needs to be resilient enough through its citizen education to provide a framework for thriving societies. Governing education as a common good requires questioning educational models and curricula, considering how notions of peace are integrated into those models, which can serve as a basis for schooling as an integral part of society for the well-being and advancement of citizens. Therefore, we ask, how can citizenship education impact public institutions peace-wise? And conversely, how can citizenship education foster proximity peace and disseminate ethics for citizens, the planet, and peace building How can citizenship education be beneficial to society as a whole? This article attempts to address these questions by exploring the benefits of rethinking curriculum beyond performance, while recentering and converging efforts into educating caring citizens in peace with each other and their environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article advances and illustrates the concept of "leaderhood" and argues for its role in the rediscovery and renewal of the inclusive, future-oriented spirit of the enterprise of education. Leaderhood, with its links to such concepts as "citizenhood", "elderhood", and "parenthood", is intended to convey a deep sense both of relatedness and of open-ended, future-focused concern. While leadership concerns an occupation or activity, leaderhood is more a state of being, recognizable not only in formal leadership situations but in every part of life, emerging not from policy and regulation but from a sense of fellowship and an awareness of our responsibilities to others and our community. Highlighting the importance of leaderhood in rediscovering the spirit of the educational enterprise and resisting managerialism and "strongman" leadership, we illustrate four principles governance of leaderhood should embody: clarity of function (particularly where governance ends and leading begins); a commitment to openness, transparency, truth, and accountability in aims and decision-making; democratic dialogue among a wide range of stakeholders based on inclusion and co-production; and an inter-sectoral, whole-system perspective, comprehending the entire meta-system, rather than being tied to one or another part of it. The article contrasts leadership, which holds on to the past and stifles difference, with leaderhood, which is attentive to the common good and engages fully with its responsibility to the future. Embedding leaderhood in collective action, we argue, is a key lesson for governance in developing a social contract for education that is open, fair, inclusive, and democratic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In its report published in 2021, the UNESCO International Commission on the Futures of Education invited the international community to forge a "new social contract for education" in order to repair past injustices and build a more equitable and sustainable planet. This new social contract should involve all education stakeholders and be governed by the principle of education as a common good. However, neither the concept of the new social contract nor the principle of education as a common good appear to be clearly defined in the 2021 UNESCO report, and this results in a lack of political discussion regarding the relationship among the institutions that should govern the new social contract for education. This article discusses the extent to which the notion of education as a common good provides the political framing for such a new social contract. It recalls the theoretical background of this concept and identifies some key areas that may be relevant to the discussion on the governance arrangements required to forge a new social contract for education with a view to revisiting existing hierarchies of power and strengthening democratic processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Catholic Church's reflection on and assessment of the Covid-19 pandemic has developed in several areas. Inspired by the tradition of its social teaching, specifically by the values of the dignity of the human person, justice, solidarity, and the common good, a strong sense of responsibility—on the part of all to prevent the spread of the pandemic and care for the affected sick—was called for. This resulted in a series of interventions and documents on the various medical and spiritual issues involved, particularly concerning the vaccines again Covid-19. In this short article, I draw out these insights from the official and universal reference point of the Catholic Church (i.e., Vatican sources in their various expressions and expertise). Interventions from other religions have also played a significant role during the Covid-19 pandemic as exemplified by the close relationship between certain religious actors and the World Health Organization. However, these alternative viewpoints, while important in and of themselves, do not find a suitable place within this work, which focuses on the Catholic Church's perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Majority voting and majority rule in a word, majoritarianism have been a cause of division in both parliamentary votes and binary referendums, and sometimes, subsequently, in societies as well. Indeed, at worst, such binary decisions have led to violence and war. Other, more inclusive voting procedures have been developed over the years, as often as not first used in Asia, and their adoption worldwide could lead to decisions, which more accurately reflect the common good. Furthermore, if decisions were based on a methodology which identified, not the more popular of just two options, but the most popular of a few the option with the highest average preference governance by a single party or a majority coalition could give way to that which is advocated for conflict zones: all-party power-sharing. Indeed, if such were the norm, consensus in international gatherings could more effectively be achieved, and maybe many violent conflicts could be at best prevented and at least resolved peacefully. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study tends to analyze the institution of unpredictability in correlation with the principle of the binding force of the contract, the freedom of will of the parties and in association with the economic, social, financial determining factors, including the dynamism of the law, which, through validation, brings them into the field imposed by the common good. The objective, extraordinary, exceptional and unpredictable character, as existence and extent of the disruptive factor, is analyzed in the study in association with the impact on the contract, on the balance of services, from the perspective of the relationship from effect to cause, since its mere existence remains irrelevant in the absence of this relationship. The exceptional nature of the disruptive factor of the contract is marked by its rarity, intensity of production and unpredictability, which requires a dual, subjective and objective analysis in its interpretative process. In the procedural plan of the action for unpredictability, the author was also focused on how to apply the principle of availability, pursuant to which the court can order the adaptation of the contract, if its cessation was requested through the action, and not vice versa, unless the plaintiff has changed the action or the defendant requested the cessation of the contract by means of a counterclaim. Likewise the author supported the thesis according to which the adaptation of the guarantee contract can only take place if there is a clause to this effect in the main contract or through the influence of the adaptation of the main contract, exercised in order to make the guarantee compatible with the obligation in the main contract, subject to adaptation. In the approach of the legal foundation of unpredictability, there were analyzed the theory rebus sic stantibus, the theory of the cause, of unjust enrichment, of the abuse of law, of the force majeure, with arguments and counterarguments. However, the author stopped at the substantiation of the revision of the contract for unforeseeability, starting from the premise that any imbalance caused objectively and occurred after the conclusion of the contract contradicts and deprives the contract of its fair character and of its social utility. It was associated with the fair and useful character of the contract, the solidarism, which ensures the realization of the interests of the parties, which, although opposite, make them compatible, their reconciliation being found in the fair distribution of losses and benefits. In the final part of the study, a comparative examination of the institution of unpredictability with other similar institutions was carried out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the interaction between one's cultural orientation, as derived from Grid-Group Cultural Theory (GGCT), and behaviour in a public good (PG) experiment with and without the opportunity to monitor and punish. We observe that high-group individuals contribute more than low-group individuals and that high-grid individuals are more likely to monitor and punish than low-grid individuals. Results confirm that one's culture interacts in predictable ways with economic institutions. Future research is warranted to determine whether such institutions can be designed to appeal to specific cultures in order to achieve public policy goals more effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Internacional de Educación para la Justicia Social is the property of Universidad Autonoma de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper delves into the diverse conceptualizations of the "common good" within the economic discourse and scrutinizes their implications for European integration during the pressing COVID-19 pandemic. Employing a comprehensive literature review, policy analysis, and case study examination, it explores the manifestations of the common good in the context of European Union policies. Two key interpretations emerge from our investigation: the first presents the common good as an ultimate objective, seeking a balance between individual and collective interests achieved via adept economic governance; the second considers it a continuous process underpinned by the principles that direct the journey toward such a balance. Our findings reveal that the EU's response to the COVID-19 crisis led to shifts in fiscal policies and innovation strategies. The research outcomes demonstrate a marked transition in the EU's approach, with a stronger focus on social welfare, environmental sustainability, and collective well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Direito e Práxis is the property of Editora da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (EdUERJ) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

As the social and ecological costs of capital-driven housing markets become increasingly apparent, local governments are (re)establishing collaborations with housing organizations that prioritize affordability and sustainability over profits. This hesitant re-orientation, however, takes place under conditions of strained local budgets and the inscription of market principles into existing public policies and planning law. In this article, we develop an interdisciplinary perspective on the interplay between municipal housing policies, planning and legal frameworks, and collaborative housing organizations in the district development project “Kleineschholz” in Freiburg, Germany. Promoted by the local government as being 100% oriented towards the common good, multiple elements of the project are geared towards community involvement and a close dialogue between public bodies and housing organizations. At the same time, the local government and administration navigate divergent interests within and outside municipal institutions, multi-level legal frameworks, financial constraints, as well as institutional routines. We trace how the project’s common-good orientation is integrated into the co-productive process between housing policy, planning law, and collaborative housing groups. Our analysis centers on the process of concept-based tendering which is a key municipal lever for the project’s orientation towards the common good. Moving beyond the situated district of Kleineschholz, we outline the potentials and challenges of translating an orientation towards the common good into collaborative district development, against the background of present political and legal frameworks.

This paper aims to clarify the concept of the symbolic constitution and to explain one of its most significant functions: the representation of political unity in complex societies. Section B briefly outlines the concept of the symbolic constitution which informs the arguments of the paper. The next two sections proceed “hermeneutically” through critical engagements with (i) Martin Loughlin’s recent analysis of the symbolic constitution within an ideology-critique of neo-liberal constitutionalism (ii) Niklas Luhmann’s account of the role of symbolic constitutionalism in concealing the function of the modern constitution as a structural coupling between the political and legal sub-systems. Section E then considers the relationship between the symbolic constitution and an alternative “traditional” concept for the representation of political unity: the common good. I argue that the symbolic constitution is both (i) a placeholder which speaks to the abiding relevance of the common good (ii) a symptom of the decline of its preconditions.

Most of the current literature on the subject of corporations and compelled speech focuses almost entirely on the extent to which corporations are or should be regulated by laws that compel them to conduct themselves in a certain way. In this paper, I explore the mostly uncharted territory of situations in which corporations compel the speech of their own employees through policies which require employees to speak or act in a way that may be contrary to the form of life prescribed by their faith. I argue that philosophical defences against corporate compelled speech for religious employees on the basis that religious belief sits within a generally inviolate private sphere of autonomy are misguided because they do not take sufficient account of the nature of corporations as moral agents which can legitimately pursue moral and political ends in the public sphere. I argue that corporations necessarily rely on a conception of the common good when they do this. The permissibility of corporate compelled speech therefore comes down to whether or not it is conducive to the common good.

Objectives This article analyzes the multifaceted concept of justice and its foundational principles while scrutinizing its influence on the formulation and operation of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. Drawing from philosophical and legal perspectives, it examines the intricate interplay between justice, the common good, and constitutional values, particularly within the dynamic relationship between the individual and the state. Central to this exploration is an inquiry into how Poland's constitutional framework accommodates interpretations of justice and the common good, shaping the dynamics between constitutional values and the rights of citizens. Moreover, it investigates the complexities of judicial execution in Poland, aiming to reconcile procedural justice and legal norms while safeguarding the rights of debtors. Material and methods The article uses an analytical approach to identify and address challenges in judicial enforcement, particularly in achieving a delicate balance between the efficacy of judgment execution and the imperative of justice, all while upholding the rights of debtors and acknowledging the legitimate interests of creditors. Results This study shows that Poland's constitution incorporates a variety of interpretations of justice and the common good, which affects the dynamic between constitutional values and citizens' rights, and that these issues have a significant impact on the balance between the effectiveness of execution and the imperative of justice. Conclusions Through an examination of justice, the common good, and their implications for constitutional governance and judicial enforcement, this article contributes to a deeper understanding of the intricate dynamics shaping legal and moral discourse in contemporary Poland.

In this paper, we introduce a notion of mergeable weighted majority games with the aim of providing the first characterization of the Colomer–Martínez power index (Colomer and Martínez in J Theor Polit 7(1):41–63, 1995). Furthermore, we define and characterize a new power index for the family of weighted majority games that combines ideas of the Public Good (Holler in Polit Stud 30(2):262–271, 1982) and Colomer–Martínez power indices. Finally, we analyze the National Assembly of Ecuador using these and some other well-known power indices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]