Canada Discussion Question 5

David Smellie

Canada’s largest amendment to its Constitution is the Constitution Act of 1982 (6). This act made major changes to the Canadian Constitution, including establishing judicial review, changing the procedure for amending the Constitution, and guaranteeing human rights (1) (2). This amendment deals primarily with changing Canada’s political institutions and firmly entrenching human and civil rights in Canadian law. The Constitution Act of 1982 also granted significant powers of judicial review to the Canadian Supreme Court and established a procedure for all future amendments. According to Lijphart, this marks a significant change in Canada’s process of adapting its Constitution as it establishes one of the most stringent amendment procedures as well as a judiciary with significant judicial review powers (3).

Discussion 5: South Africa

Jacob Levine

One example of a major amendment (which is actually 4 amendments) to South Africa's constitution deals with the topic of floor-crossing. Floor-crossing, the term for changing political parties while in office, had been in practice for years in South Africa. However, it was stopped with the Constitution of 1996. By 2002, many felt that, due to its long history in South African politics and their own feelings on  its morality, floor-crossing should be allowed within South African government. As a result, several pieces of legislation were passed: the Eight, Ninth, and Tenth Amendments, as well as the Local Government: Municipal Structures Amendment Bill. (1)(2)(3)

Discussion Question 5: Russia

Courtney Rygalski

Since the Russian Constitution was ratified in 1993, there has only been one amendment to the document. In 2008, the Constitution was amended to extend the presidential term from 4 years to 6 years(Russian Federation Constitution, Article 81). Although this may be the only amendment made to the Constitution, the characteristic that makes it a major amendment is probable power-hungry motive behind the change as well as the predicted undemocratic consequences to the Russian political system. 

Discussion Question 5: Germany

Taylor Gunderson

The reforms made to the German Basic Law in 2006 are considered by many to be “the biggest overhaul of the national constitution since its creation in 1949” (1). The reforms made during this time were extremely important because they aimed to untangle the problematic federalist structure that had been put in place after WWII. When the Basic Law was created, there was a great deal of emphasis put on checking central power, and this led the drafters to allow the Bundesrat to veto “60% of all bills put through the legislative branch” (1). This allowed state governments to block a great deal of federal legislation. While at the time, this greatly limited the ability of the executive branch to push legislation through, it quickly became cumbersome. This structure slowed down legislation making and blocked key proposals from being passed. Despite this, the federal government began to grow and expand its influence, and the power of the Lander began to wane (3).

Discussion Question 5: Spain

Blake Schulman

One major amendment to the Spanish Constitution occurred in 2011, when the Spanish government approved a constitutional reform of article 135 to implement a deficit limit and a required balanced budget at both the regional and national levels that would constrain the spending and borrowing of the Spanish government (1). This is one of only two amendments that have been passed by the Spanish government since the creation of their constitution in 1978, signifying the value of both amendments and their importance to the welfare of the country.

Discussion Question 5: Sweden

Kyle Tuckman

After looking through all of the amendments to the 1974 Swedish constitution, it seems as though the most important one is “Government Bill A reformed Constitution (Govt. Bill 2009/10:80).” (1) This amendment has a plethora of different stipulations that are embodied in it, but generally, the amendment modernized and simplified the text in general, and strengthened several fundamental rights and freedoms (2). The Instrument of Government (IG), the most important of the constitutional acts (3), was the primary focus of amendment. The amendment also made slight alterations to the Elections act and the Local Government Act (1).

Discussion Question 5--Argentina

Allisa Newman

The original 1853 Argentine Constitution has been amended six times since its initial ratification by a Constitutional Convention in Santa Fe (1).  The most recent and significant amendment was in 1994, which occurred through a Constitutional Convention.  In total, the 1994 amendment reformed 43 articles (2).  The 1994 Amendment is arguably the most significant in their attempt to curb Presidential powers.  Although often times the reforms were not necessarily successful, they are still major in that it was an impressive step in Argentina’s history to attempt to overcome the powerful presidency.  Significant aspects of the 1994 Amendment include shortening the presidential term length, establishing the Judicial Counsel, and introducing the Amparo (2). 

Discussion Question 5: Brazil

On May, 22 2012 the Brazilian Congress approved Constitutional amendment 438 (PEC 438) which authorized the immediate expropriation of properties without compensation where “the government's inspectors prove the existence of slave labor or similar forms of exploitation of manpower in certain properties, whether rural or urban (1).” I argue that the most important result of this amendment was its broadening of the concept of conditional private property rights pursuant to adherence to social land conditions. The Brazilian constitution, in article 5 sections 23, assigns a social function to all land (2). The social function of all land is defined by two requirements, enumerated in Article 186: First land use must be in compliance with labor regulation provisions; and second, land exploitation must favor the well-being of both land owners and workers (3). Consequently any form of slave labor would violate these two conditions for lands social functions and must therefore be redressed. Yet prior to PEC 438, Article 184 and 186 only enumerated procedures for expropriation of agrarian lands that don’t meet the social function conditions. PEC 438 broadens the constitutionally enumerated expropriation procedures to include urban lands and factories that are charged with using sweatshop slave practices. PEC 438 is therefore a major amendment because it broadens the powers granted the government to expropriate privately held lands, beyond the limited scope agrarian lands. This results in a much broader understanding of conditional private property rights that includes agricultural as well as urban/industrial lands whose ownership is predicated on the landowner’s adherence to the social land functions.

Discussion Question 5: Italy Nikhil Gulati

Nikhil Gulati

I would like to focus my discussion on the most recent amendments, which were passed in 2012 and focus on the Italian economy. In 2008, the world was hit with the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression and many countries, including Italy, were heavily hit and spun into recession. Since 2008, Italy has been in a recession five out of the last six years (1). This consistent economic downturn resulted in the Italian Government amending their constitution to try and avoid future economic problems by controlling government spending and fiscal responsibility. This new reform is referred to as the “balanced budget” amendment and it amended Articles 81, 97, 117 and 119 (2). This is a major amendment because Italy has been one the slowest recovering countries since the 2008 hit and the focus on balancing the government’s budget is a start to solving some of their problems. The revised first section of Article 81 reads “The State shall balance revenue and expenditure in its budget, taking account of the adverse and favourable phases of the economic cycle” (3).  The second section also adds an important stipulation regarding government debt accumulation; it does not allow the government to increase debt unless in a time of recession or unless it is approved by both Houses of Parliament (3).

Before the amendment, there was no balanced budget or debt-break requirement and the lack of a legally binding law enabled the Italian government to spend at will. Since 1992, the Italian government debt-to-GDP ratio has always been above 100%. This figure in 2012, at the time of the amendment adoption, was around 127% (4).  This figure is relatively absurd; especially considering the ratio was above 100% even in times of economic prosperity. The debt-to-GDP ratio is an indication of how well a government can pay back its loans and also serves as a measure of a country’s ability to pay back future loans.  In addition, this statistic serves an indication of a governments spending compared to the true value of a nation. To put this statistic in perspective, the US debt-to-GDP ratio only recently exceeded 100% in 2013 and in 2014; the ratio was 101.53% (5).  It is clear that Italy has been acting fiscally irresponsible for a long time and this new amendment was aimed at creating a more responsible government by forcing them to obey the new constitution.  

In addition, I would like to discuss the changes made to Article 119 that discuss the need to shape the economy to meet the membership requirements of the European Union and the ability to use the Euro (3).  In order to use the Euro, countries must have a debt-to-GDP ratio of less than 60% and a government deficit below 3% of total GDP (6). Italy, in 2012, did not meet these criteria, which created another need for a change, and this was implemented in Article 119. The implementation of this amendment is another soft fix used by the Italians to try and drive the Italian economy in the right direction to meeting the EU’s economic requirements and fixing the rampant economic problems.

The point of this round of amendments was to fix the Italian governments mismanagement of the economy. These amendments introduce a legally binding responsibility that the government must follow in order to try and create a better economy. The Italian government, via these amendments, must hold itself to the law and be more economically responsible. As a result, the new amendments force the Italians to be more cautious and calculated when it comes to their economy. This new focus is a start to fixing the economic problems of Italy. Obviously, more is needed to really fix the Italian economy, but these amendments provide the groundwork for turning around the economy and making Italy an economic power once again. The government must now work towards reducing debt and government spending which, in the long run, could reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio and Italy’s other problems.

1 – http://online.wsj.com/articles/italys-problems-spin-euro-zone-axis-1407702329

2 – http://www3.unisi.it/dipec/palomar/italy019_2012.html

3 - https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Italy_2012.pdf

4 - http://www.tradingeconomics.com/italy/government-debt-to-gdp

5 - http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/government-debt-to-gdp

6  - http://www.sedsi.org/2013_Conference/proc/proc/P121024011.pdf

Discussion 5 France

Discussion #5

Simon Kaufman

Since France adopted its current constitution in 1958, it has been amended 24 times with the first amendment coming in 1960 and the most recent one being put into effect in 2008. One of the constitution’s major amendments, and coincidentally one I came across when looking into our last discussion question, is the 15th amendment, which limits the president’s term to five years. The amendment, referred to as the quinquennat, was originally proposed in 1973, but it didn’t gain enough traction to pass until nearly three decades later, entering law on October 2, 2000 (French Constitution, 2008).