Supreme Court reserves verdict in Article 370 abrogation challenge

The government said the Valley had prospered in the past four-and-a-half years after the repeal of Article 370 in August 2019.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/supreme-court-reserves-verdict-in-article-370-abrogation-challenge/article67274228.ece

#kashmir #article370case #SupremeCourt #article370 #article370abrogation #constitution #federalism #DYChandrachud #india

' It is not tenable to vary the extent of bodily rights from state to state, border to border. It raises legal and political questions that have to be settled in one direction or another.... By ending the constitutional guarantee of bodily autonomy, the Supreme Court has fully unsettled the rights of countless Americans in ways that must be resolved. Once again, a house divided against itself cannot stand. '

#abortion #BodilyAutonomy #federalism #RightToTravel

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/02/opinion/slavery-abortion-rights-laws.html

#Federalism is a force in American gov’t that influences much but is rarely noticed. Here’s a glimpse: an announcement of #water system improvements in Detroit #neighborhoods. The money comes from a state low-interest loan program. And that money comes from a federal program created in 1996 that set out how states should work with local gov’ts in improving drinking water. 30 years later, this act of three-level federalism still makes life better in neighborhoods. https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2023/08/18/state-awards-33m-for-detroit-water-system-upgrades/70624114007/

Points of Unity template for shared practices and processes (for social movement groups and popular organizations of various kinds): ***Although descriptively accurate, the above is not formulated to be the best name for practical use in movement context as it is too jargon heavy and wordy. Alternative names: Points of Unity, Group agreements, Shared Agreements, Group Practices, Shared Practices, Group Processes, Shared Processes, etc

Direct-Democracy: Direct democracy refers to direct collective decision making. Direct democracy enables collective dialogue, decisions, and actions to achieve various goals and solve various problems. Deliberation is foundational to a practical direct democracy as it enables questions, amendments, conversations, problems, solution criteria, multiple perspectives, critiques, concerns, alternative possibilities, dissent, and evaluation of pros and cons to round out proposals and decisions made. After deliberation, there is an aim for full agreement. If there is not full agreement, there is further discussion and then a decision is made by majority vote. ***The specifics of direct democracy can be tweaked and even left out of this section and simply included in the bylaws.

Horizontality: Horizontality refers to the presence of self-organization and the absence of hierarchy. Hierarchy refers to institutionalized top-down command obedience relations. Horizontality includes horizontal rights such as freedom from hierarchy, freedom from oppression, freedom from domination, freedom from exploitation, and freedom to participate in self-managed groups and relations. This group strives to be internally horizontal and contribute to horizontal relations. etc. ***can alternatively be called or framed as: non-hierarchy, or egalitarian relations, or opposition to hierarchy. With different groups, different framings and wordings will make more sense. Depending on group and context, it may or may not make sense for a group to give a list of various hierarchies in such a points of unity document.

Free Association and Participatory activity: Free association refers to freedom of and from associations and participatory activity within associations. For there to be free association and participatory activity, persons and groups must have the guaranteed freedoms to choose their activities and associations while respecting and enabling freedoms of others to do the same. All labor, work, and action within this group is to be voluntary and non-coerced. If someone does not like a policy that is made, they can continue to argue for and advocate an alternative proposal, continue to argue one’s point formally and informally, choose to not participate in the implementation of the policy they disagree with while remaining in the group, or choose to leave the association. *** This point can potentially be included in other points of unity without being its own point. Also, it is often implied that a group is such a voluntary association so including this for a group as an explicit point may or may not make sense.

Direct Action: Direct action refers to opposing exploitation, domination and oppression through self-managed action to achieve various goals. Direct action can be contrasted to indirect action of top-down organizing and relying on rulers to solve social problems. Direct action includes a wide array of potential activities and campaigns against specific hierarchical institutions for short term, mid-term, and long-term goals. *** A description giving examples of direct action tactics such as occupations, blockades, strikes, boycotts, etc. is optional. An alternative to the wording to “domination, exploitation, and oppression” can be “unfreedom and injustice” or something sufficiently similar.

Mutual Aid: Mutual aid refers to voluntary multidirectional help to meet needs. Mutual aid can exist within a group, between groups, between groups and persons, between persons etc. Mutual aid enables groups and people to pool abilities, needs, ideas, proposals, actions, infrastructure, resources, tools, etc. together. Mutual aid can include a wide array of potential activities from mutual assistance towards common goals, creating or participating in development of the commons (including communal fields, factories and workshops, social centers, libraries, eco-technology projects, etc), free food distribution, communal childcare, etc. ***Such a list or variation thereof is optional to include.

For groups that collaborate with other groups in various formal and informal ways:

Co-Federalism: Co-federalism refers to ways organizations can freely collaborate for inter-collective coordination, decisions, and actions in a way that enables decision making power to be in the hands of people directly. Delegated persons and councils of collectives can meet up for deliberation and administration. Such delegates and co-federal councils are mandated and recallable to their respective popular assemblies, are merely communicative, administrative, and have no policy making power. All policies are made and ratified by general assemblies directly. ***Alternatively the words federalism, confederalism, intercommunalism, inter-collectivity, egalitarian federation, etc. can be used in place of co-federalism. Co-federalism is a neologism, and confederalism and federalism both have connotative issues despite them referring to an essential practice for horizontal and free inter-organizational relations.

Addendum point for Community assembly groups in particular:

Communal Self Management: Communal self-management refers to horizontal, democratic, participatory community politics and economics. Such communal and intercommunal self-management can exist on every scale from the block, to the neighborhood, to the city, and beyond. Means of existence and production needed by communities are to be held and managed in common. Policies and protocols for communal economics are managed by communal assemblies and co-federations thereof. Such communal assemblies and co-federations thereof have embedded participatory councils that self-manage implementation within the bounds of their respective mandates and protocols. Such a communal economy aims towards providing each and all with free access to needs.

***The above point is specifically for community assembly groups. It generally makes the most sense for groups that are at relatively a mature level development to the point where they have sufficient power, means of production, and popular support.

Alternative framing that synthesizes the first three points of unity into a single point:

Participatory Democracy: Participatory democracy refers to a combination of direct collective decision making, without rulers, where people freely participate in decision making and implementation of decisions. ***By condensing the substance of the first three points into a single point, a lot of clutter disappears. From here, people can fill out this point through their own descriptions or through copying, pasting, and blending some of the more essential sentences from the first three points of unity listed as needed. An alternative framing for this point could be “self-management” in such a way that includes the substance of direct democracy, horizontality, and free association. As coherent as the first three points are as separate points rounding each other out, they are rather cumbersome and can be difficult to wrap one’s mind around. Creating a single point that combines the essential features of those points can help clear up confusion. Something like a practical unity of Participatory Democracy (as defined above), Direct Action, and Mutual aid can lead to a lot of coherence and functional use for groups starting from scratch or otherwise developing such points of unity overtime.

https://usufructcollective.wordpress.com/2023/01/14/liberatory-points-of-unity-template-2023-remix/

#anarchism #anarchy #socialism #communism #communalism #socialmovements #libertariansocialism #libertariancommunism #egalitarianism #horizontality #federalism #democracy #mutualaid #freeassociation #pointsofunity #pou #organizing #freedom #revolution #organization

A Broken Pact: An Excerpt from ‘A Dismantled State’

The terms of J&K’s Instrument of Accession have been compromised by the abrogation of Article 370, Anuradha Bhasin argues in her book.

#BookExcerpt #kashmir #AnuradhaBhasin #article370abrogation #article370 #InstrumentOfAccession #constitution #federalism #history #india #books #bookstodon #histodon

https://www.scobserver.in/journal/a-broken-pact-an-excerpt-from-a-dismantled-state/

But the #indictment stands out, above all, because #Georgia offers uniquely compelling #evidence of #ElectionInterference — & a set of state #criminal statutes tailor-made for the sprawling, loosely organized wrongdoing (aka organized crime) that #Trump & his co-conspirators are accused of engaging in. It is a reminder of the genius of American #federalism: When our #democracy is threatened, states have an indispensable part to play in protecting it.

"Elinor Ostrom’s rules for governing the commons provide criteria for how a common sector can function well (Ostrom 2021). Even though her politics differ in crucial ways from libertarian communism, many of the overall principles and practices for managing the commons that she outlines can strengthen libertarian communist praxis (Libertarian 2013). And although not stated until now, the above approach of libertarian communism satisfies Elinor Ostrom’s 8 rules for governing the commons: It has clear and non-hierarchical processes/practices/nomos/decision making, planning, and rules, it matches rules governing commons to local conditions (while also retaining specific universalist features), it ensures that those affected by decisions can modify them, it aims towards the commons being respected by others (through a focus on global revolution as well as defending the commons against hierarchical forces), it develops ways for people to hold each other accountable to rules of the commons without resorting to hierarchical strata and without hierarchical security forces, it has ways of dealing with rule violations as well as accessible dispute resolution (via free association/disassociation, self defense and defense of others, breaking up fights, diffuse social disapproval, and dispute resolution via mediation), and has responsibility for governing common resources in nested tiers from lowest level up to the entire interconnected system. "

https://usufructcollective.wordpress.com/2022/02/01/the-conquest-of-sandwiches/

#anarchism #anarchy #libertariansocialism #libertariancommunism #socialism #communism #communalism #utopia #federalism #confederalism #federation #confederation #postscarcity #abundance #mutualaid #intercommunalism #commons

Federalism built in Article 370 cannot be abrogated, senior advocate Gopal Subramanium to SC Constitution Bench #Federalism #Article #GopalSubramanium #SCConstitutionBench #socialnewsxyz

https://www.socialnews.xyz/2023/08/09/federalism-built-in-article-370-cannot-be-abrogated-senior-advocate-gopal-subramanium-to-sc-constitution-bench/

As SC Questions ‘Special Treatment’ for J&K, a Look at Article 370’s Historicity

Understanding events in the 1950s is important to make sense of what actually transpired during the SC proceedings. Shakir Mir writes.

#kashmir #article370 #history #india #pakistan #article370abrogation #SupremeCourt #federalism #HinduNationalism #congress #BJP

https://www.thequint.com/opinion/as-sc-questions-special-treatment-for-jk-a-look-at-article-370s-historicity

Communist production, reproduction, economic decision making, and implementation could technically be done through multiple kinds of ways of arranging socialized production (socialized production as in means of production held in common and governed by self-managed collectives of some kind). Communalism ought to be the complimentary political economic form of communism. Communalism is for communalized economics and means of production and not just socialized production. Communalism properly distributes means of production according to needs of communities and persons without putting policy making power in regards to communal economics in the hands of relatively privatized sources of power. Communalization is a way of gathering all who need, use, and contribute to the commons to govern the commons at multiple scales. Such communalized economics can only be communal if managed directly by horizontal communal assemblies and networks thereof. Such community assemblies and federations thereof would have constitutions, bylaws, shared processes, practices, and goals in harmony with the following qualities: direct democracy, non-hierarchy, free association (participatory activity of each and all), mutual aid, distribution according to needs, and co-federation. Within such a practical framework, decisions about common economics would be made by such communal assemblies deliberating about how to meet aggregate needs. People would deliberate in such assemblies and pool needs, ideas, knowledge, alternative proposals, abilities, volitions/desires of persons, skills, resources, and technology together to make decisions in relation to solving common problems or developing common projects. Participatory, horizontal, and directly democratic decision making processes would exist on a plurality of scales–from communal to intercommunal to broader co-federated scales. Such communal assemblies would have embedded participatory councils and working groups that implement decisions and self-manage within the bounds of the policies made by communal assemblies and members thereof. Such a process harmonizes self interest and social interest, is rooted in cooperative conflict and deliberation for decision making, has a form and a content that guarantees self-management of each and all on every scale to the degree it develops, has maximal political transparency, allows for decision making and coordination on a plurality of different scales, allows for function redundancy, etc. and is not internally limited by the profit motive or positions that give people power over others (and what is entailed by the maintenance of such power over others). Additionally, such an approach does not put the economy at war against itself by pitting different relatively private sectors against others.

https://usufructcollective.wordpress.com/2022/02/01/the-conquest-of-sandwiches/

#anarchism #anarchy #libertariansocialism #libertariancommunism #socialism #communism #communalism #utopia #federalism #confederalism #federation #confederation #postscarcity #abundance #mutualaid #intercommunalism #commons

'Be quiet or ED may visit your house': BJP's Meenakshi Lekhi to Oppn MPs in Parliament

Lekhi claimed that the remark was made in jest, before carrying on with her speech defending the Union government’s Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill.

#ED #EnforcementDirectorate #MeenakshiLekhi #opposition #UnionGovt #parliament #AAP #BJP #governors #BJPMinisters #UnionGovt #federalism #democracy #india

https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/be-quiet-or-ed-may-visit-your-house-bjps-meenakshi-lekhi-oppn-mps-parl-180619

On Romania visit, Orbán condemns EU federalism, LGBTQ ‘offensive’ https://www.euractiv.com/section/elections/news/on-romania-visit-orban-condemns-eu-federalism-lgbtq-offensive/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon #antiimmigration #EUfunds #Federalism #Hungary #illiberaldemocracy

Restoring Democracy: An 11-Point Common Minimum Programme for the United Opposition

If an opposition victory is to mark a never-again moment, the new government cannot stop at restoration. It has to formulate an agenda not only for restoration, but also for democratic deepening and entrenchment.

#democracy #constitution #opposition #elections2024 #BJP #hindutva #voting #judiciary #citizenship #kashmir #federalism #education #CivilRights #india

https://thewire.in/politics/united-opposition-democracy-common-minimum-programme

Mr Controversy: Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi in familiar territory

Since he was shunted to the state from Nagaland, Ravi has regularly clashed with the Stalin govt.

#TamilNadu #TNGovernor #RNRavi #MKStalin #SenthilBalaji #governors #TNBJP #nagaland #UnionGovt #federalism #india

https://www.deccanherald.com/national/north-and-central/mr-controversy-tamil-nadu-governor-r-n-ravi-in-familiar-territory-1237417.html

RN Ravi unfit to be Tamil Nadu governor, finds chances to topple government, Stalin tells president

He could be regarded as a mere agent of the Union government, the Tamil Nadu chief minister said in a letter to Droupadi Murmu.

#TamilNadu #RNRavi #MKStalin #DroupadiMurmu #TNGovernor #governors #SenthilBalaji #UnionGovt #DMK #BJP #federalism #constitution #india

https://scroll.in/latest/1052315/rn-ravi-unfit-to-be-tamil-nadu-governor-finds-chances-to-topple-government-stalin-tells-president

Federalism allows states to be “laboratories of democracy,” letting their legislatures set their own laws as they see fit within the framework of the Constitution. But as more people move to states whose laws reflect their political views, some wonder if this self-segregation is further polarizing the country.

#Politics #States #Federalism

https://apnews.com/article/polarization-republicans-democrats-abortion-gender-colorado-idaho-406b5a841d4d47c8a08cf054c38bb2a0

'Your communication unconstitutional, disregarded': CM Stalin to Governor Ravi

MK Stalin made scathing remarks on the Governor’s decision to dismiss Senthil Balaji, saying his order needs outright disregard and accused him of acting in haste and showing scant regard for the Constitution.

#TamilNadu #MKStalin #RNRavi #SenthilBalaji #governors #constitution #federalism #india

https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/your-communication-unconstitutional-disregarded-cm-stalin-governor-ravi-179195

Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi backtracks on dismissal of Senthilbalaji from Cabinet

“We will face this legally,” Tamil Nadu CM Stalin had said earlier, noting that the Governor does not have the authority to dismiss a Minister.

#TamilNadu #SenthilBalaji #RNRavi #TNGovernor #governors #federalism #MKStalin #DMK #ED #TNGovt #UnionGovt #india

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/tn-governor-backtracks-on-dismissal-of-senthilbalaji-from-cabinet/article67023986.ece

DMK Minister Senthil Balaji dismissed from cabinet by Tamil Nadu Governor

The statement issued by the Raj Bhavan said Senthil Balaji is facing serious criminal proceedings in a number of cases of corruption including taking cash for jobs and money laundering.

#TamilNadu #SenthilBalaji #TNGovernor #RNRavi #governors #DMK #MKStalin #federalism #india

https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/dmk-minister-senthil-balaji-dismissed-cabinet-tamil-nadu-governor-179138

The Supreme Court has rejected the Independent State Legislature theory

https://www.npr.org/2023/06/27/1181152636/independent-state-legislature-theory-supreme-court-decision

#NPR #SupremeCourt #IndependentStateLegislature #ConstitutionalTheory #StateSovereignty #Federalism #JudicialPower #Politics #News