State Sovereignty and the Eleventh Amendment in the U.S. Supreme Court: The 1988 Term

During its 1988 term, the U.S. Supreme Court addressed two importantaspects of the Eleventh Amendment, which generally protectsstates from being sued in federal courts. First, the Court heldthat the Congress has power to abrogate states' immunity fromsuit—to subject states to suits in federal courts fordamages—under Congress' expansive commerce-clause power.Second, the Court made clear that such abrogation would be foundonly where the text of the statute itself, as distinct fromits legislative history, clearly and specifically so provided.This article describes these decisions, and analyzes some oftheir implications for judicial federalism.     

the impact of constitutional structures and collective and competitive veto points on income inequality in industrialized democracies

This paper presents the first systematic, empirical examination of the impact of constitutional structures on income inequality among eighteen OECD countries. Our pooled time series/cross–sectional panel analysis (n = 18, t = 2) reveals that consensual political institutions are systematically related to lower income inequalities while the reverse is true for majoritarian political institutions. We also make a crucial distinction between 'collective' and 'competitive' veto points. Our multiple regression results provide strong evidence that collective veto points depress income inequalities while competitive veto points tend to widen the inequality of incomes. Thus, some institutional veto points have constraining effects on policy while others have 'enabling' effects.     

The feasibility and utility of pretrial instruction in the substantive law

Jurors are traditionally instructed in the governing law after trial, just prior to deliberation. Several legal scholars have proposed that instructing jurorsprior to trial would better equip them to evaluate the evidence and integrate it with the law. The most controversial aspect of this position is preinstruction in thesubstantive law. Critics warn that substantive preinstruction may impair jurors' performance and that it poses unreasonable administrative problems. This research surveys the opinions of California Superior Court judges on the advantages and disadvantages of substantive preinstruction to understand the reasons that judges either do or do not preinstruct on substantive issues. The most important advantage to emerge was the potential for a substantive precharge to improve jurors' integration of facts and law. The most critical disadvantages were administrative ones: The judge does not know before trial what substantive instructions are appropriate, and the procedure may cause burdensome delays.     

Self-reported suicidal behavior and attitudes toward suicide and suicide prevention among psychology students in Ghana, Uganda, and Norway

Self-reported suicidal behavior and attitudes toward suicide in psychology students are reported and compared in Ghana, Uganda, and Norway. Small differences only were found in own suicidal behavior. However, experience of suicidal behavior in the surroundings was more common in Uganda than in Ghana and Norway. Although differences were found between the three countries in attitudes toward suicide, which emphasizes the need for culture-sensitive research and prevention, many of the differences were not as big as expected. The most pronounced difference was that the Norwegian students were more reluctant to take a stand on these questions compared to their African counterparts. Some differences were also found between the two African countries. The implications of the results for suicide prevention in Africa are discussed.     

H. M. Seervai – Indian Advocate and Great Lawyer of the Commonwealth of Nations*

For much of the second half of the 20th century, H. M. Seervai was a leading advocate of the Bombay High Court. He argued some of the most important constitutional cases decided by the Supreme Court of India and in 1970 he resolved to write his Constitutional Law of India. It became the leading text on Indian constitutional law. It is still in widespread use. Many instances of recent citations are quoted. But Seervai’s book is not the usual commentary on the text of the Indian constitutional and case law. Instead, the book contains a running discussion on the shifts in direction, as well as sharp criticisms, where Seervai felt that the courts had strayed from correct constitutional doctrine. Seervai died in 1996 as the fourth edition was just completed. In this article, originally given as a lecture in Mumbai in 2007 on the centenary of Seervai’s birth, the author questions Seervai’s testamentary prohibition on posthumous editions of his text. He urges that a new edition should be produced to keep Seervai’s legacy alive not only in India but in other constitutional democracies where Indian judicial authority is increasingly cited.     

The Commonwealth of Nations today: historical anachronism or focus for universal values?

The creation of the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) in July 2010, to report on future structures of the Commonwealth of Nations, focuses attention on the activities that the Commonwealth and its Secretariat perform well and those that require improvement. The author, now a member of the EPG, explains how the Commonwealth evolved out of the British Empire; the importance of the links of law, language and tradition that bind it together; and the activities that are well performed: professional links; education and publications; electoral observations; provision of good offices; and consensus over core values. He notes useful new initiatives, including periodic human rights reviews; outreach to youth; pursuit of women’s equality; and the use of new information technology. However, he also identifies a number of areas of weakness: publicity and communications; secretariat organisation; the focus of some activities; and effective attention to reported human rights abuses. Given the creation of the EPG, this is a timely survey of the challenges that lie before it and the Commonwealth.     

For King,For Country: Changing “Good” Behaviour in Victoria, 1930s and 1950s

Far from being incidental, what is taught at primary school can reveal key beliefs about the world and its future held at a given period. I compare Victorian primary school curricula and reading resources of the 1930s and 1950s, attending particularly to references to war and cultural difference. I find that in the 1930s war was to be avoided by valuing cultural differences, whereas in the later decade the aim was effacement of difference through modernisation. I argue that this attitude to difference, combined with the imperialism and internationalism of the 1930s, engendered a moral form of identity in Victorian primary school children. In contrast, under the economic nationalism of the 1950s, children were taught to be good citizens taking little moral responsibility to those who were not Australian.