LIBERAL DEMOCRACY AND GROUP RIGHTS: THE LEGACY OF INDIVIDUALISM AND ITS IMPACT ON AMERICAN INDIAN TRIBES

Abstract Individualism is the foundation.of democratic theory and practise in the United States. A multi-ethnic, but not really a multi-communal society in the same sense as Northern Ireland or India, the United States has not generally had to confront the nature and justification of its historical opposition to group rights and communal social and political organization. Only the American Indian tribes, with their treaty-mandated communalism, have presented exceptions to this pattern. This paper explores the assumptions underlying liberal democratic attitudes towards communalism, the ways in which group claims pose challenges to conventional notions of justice and equality, and the utility of introducing alternative assumptions about the nature and role of groups in democratic society. Discussion centers on the most recent attempt to reduce the group rights of American Indian tribes.     

FREDERICK GOULBURN: THE MAN AND HIS OFFICE

Major Frederick Goulburn's appointment in 1820 as Colonial Secretary and Registrar of the Records of New South Wales was something more than the appointment of just another colonial official. It was also a recognition by the home government, as had been the appointment of a Commissioner of Inquiry the previous year, of the changing character of the colony. Though still predominantly a penal colony, it was no longer that alone but was developing also into a colony of free British settlement with economic potential. "Considering the Importance which the Colony has attained from its rapid Increase in Wealth and Population", wrote Lord Bathurst, Secretary of State for War and Colonies, "His Majesty has thought it adviseable to take this opportunity of placing these officers [Colonial Secretary and Provost Marshall] on the Footing on which they stand in other Foreign Possessions of the Crown"; their Commissions were to be prepared for the King's signature in the usual form.     

FIFTY YEARS LATER: THE LEGACY OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964

This paper assesses the legacy of the Civil Rights Act over the past 50 years, reviewing its history, scope, and impact on wage, employment, and segregation outcomes of the Act's five protected classes. In addition to improving outcomes for protected classes, the Act launched a period of expanded civil rights legislation and established a framework that allows expansion of coverage through judicial interpretation without requiring passage of new laws. Applications include prohibiting sexual harassment as a form of sex discrimination and protection against color discrimination separately from race discrimination, which may be increasingly salient with increased immigration and with a multirace population.