Constitutional democracy and civic nationalism

ABSTRACT. This article seeks to bring to the fore the intrinsic link between constitutional democracy and the civic nation, relying on Jürgen Habermas's theory of democracy. This theoretical framework will serve as the basis for a communicative understanding of civic nationalism, underscoring the notable role played by language. Attention will be given to the normative dimension that allows for the legitimisation of national divisions of a civic space bound by universal rights. The prime motivation behind this article is thus political‐philosophical, although empirical examples, drawn particularly from the French revolutionary discourse, will be brought to bear. And since a civic nation construed in communicative terms has necessary linguistic implications, cases of multilingual and multinational states will be examined.     

THE ST. LAWRENCE SEAWAY

Book reviewed in this article:
B ullock , F. J.: Ships and the Seaway, J. M. Dent & Sons (Canada) Ltd.
C hevrier , L.: The St. Lawrence Seaway, Macmillan Co. of Canada Ltd.
H ills , T. L.: The St. Lawrence Seaway, Methuen & Co. Ltd.
J udson , C. I.: St. Lawrence Seaway, Follet Pub. Co.
M ayer , H. M.: The Port of Chicago and the St. Lawrence Seaway, University of Chicago Press
M assena O bserver : The Billion Dollar Story, Annual Publications     

The Judicial Bookshelf

“The good that Presidents do is often interred with their Administrations. It is their choice of Supreme Court Justices that lives after them.” ¹ This was the assessment offered by one leading opinion journal more than seven decades ago, after President Franklin D. Roosevelt nominated Professor Felix Frankfurter to the Supreme Court to fill the opening occasioned by the death of Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo. Because vacancies on the Court not only are infrequent but also occur at irregular intervals, the comment illustrates the reality that selection of Justices is among the most important and consequential responsibilities that fall to any chief executive.     

The Judicial Bookshelf

Change at the Supreme Court may be most visible and frequent in the progression of statutory and constitutional questions the Justices resolve collectively, but it may also be equally highlighted by an individual Justice's decision. This reality became plainly apparent in a letter that Justice John Paul Stevens sent to the White House on April 9, 2010, just eleven days shy of his 90^th birthday: “My dear Mr. President: Having concluded that it would be in the best interests of the Court to have my successor appointed and confirmed well in advance of the commencement of the Court's next Term, I shall retire from regular active service as an Associate Justice … effective the next day after the Court rises for the summer recess this year.” ¹ His statement was dated almost a year after Justice David Souter dispatched a similar notice to President Obama on May 1, 2009, announcing his intention to leave the Bench. Thus, for the fifth time in as many years, the machinery of executive nomination and senatorial advice and consent for the High Court churned again.     

BIOREGIONALISM AND REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY: PLACE, PEOPLE, AND NETWORKS

'Bioregionalism' is a term referring to an action-oriented movement based on ecological principles. It has not been strong in academic geography, though it clearly has space and place as its concerns. From a merging of classical regional geography and general systems one might have expected a bioregional synthesis to emerge. The bio-regional ideal can be given rigorous expression in a regional system comprising three sub-systems - a biophysical sub-system, an inhabiting sub-system, and a network sub-system.
Le mot 'biorégionalisme' s'attache à un mouvement ďaction et de pensée écologiste. Peu representé au sein de la géographie 'officielle, ii a néanmoins des rapports avec le problématique de ľespace et des lieux. On aurait du attendre que la convergence de la géographie régionale classique et ľétude des systèmes nous ameneraient à un synthèse 'biorégional.'Ľesprit biorégional peut s'exprimer ďune façon rigoureuse sous forme ďun système régional, comprenant trois sous-systèmes - sous-système biophysique, sous-système ďhabitat, et sous-système des liaisons et des réseaux.