There is an inextricable link between democracy, education and the law. After 15 years of constitutional democracy, the alarming percentage of dysfunctional schools raises questions about the efficacy of the system of local school governance. We report on the findings of quantitative and qualitative research on the democratisation of schools and…

The present study examines the impact of media and the Neoconservative movement on academic freedom in higher education in the United States post 9/11 era. In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, much media coverage focused on the Middle East. In addition to traditional news sources, new Internet based outlets emerged. Some of these websites were…

In Canada, education is generally referred to as being the exclusive constitutional responsibility of the provinces and territories. However, the federal government has a constitutional responsibility. This responsibility comes from the Constitution Act 1982 and Treaties 1-11 between the Crown (i.e., The Government of Canada) and First Nations…

Throughout much of the world higher education has been subject to scrutiny, including for example cost, outcomes, stakeholder value, and change. The intensity of the scrutiny and the possible consequences in terms of change have accelerated as a result of 2009 being the year of financial turbulence and scarce resources being used to prop up…

State control over higher education has been provided for in the Brazilian legal system since the establishment of the republic, with university autonomy having been the object of six reforms of higher education and various federal decrees up until the federal constitution of 1988, which upheld it in Article 207. In a country with a limited and…

The main focus of this paper is on the triangulated work of the 1996 South African Constitution, the Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB), and one of the latter's eleven language subsidiaries: the English National Language Body (ENLB), with special reference to the ENLB's likewise triadic projects on literature; on variation and…

Free speech in American higher education was sorely tested by three bizarre events in the waning days of September and another incident in early October. Each one has potentially grave implications for free expression and academic freedom, and thus merits closer scrutiny. The first event was the extension, then withdrawal and eventual…

The necessity of immunity of parliament and its Members has led to determine and assure particular privilege in the Constitutions or ordinary laws in the great majority of countries. This legal institution is to provide freedom of speech and to maintain the independence of representatives in the exercise of their duties without undue interference…

In the twenty-first century, differences in the treatment of trade in alcoholic beverages in comparison to other commercial goods seem at odds with the federal regulation of interstate trade under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution, which prohibits "differential treatment of in-state and out-of-state economic interests that…

This article will deal with an analysis of how education appears in the future "European Constitution" that will be the reference point for European Union actions on education issues in coming years, even though it has been questioned by the negative results of the "referendums" in France and Holland. Subsequently, there will…

Although the systems of public schools differ among Australia, South Africa and the USA, all three countries recognize that religion plays a significant role in determining values. All three countries have written constitutions but only South Africa and the USA have a Bill of Rights that protects persons' exercise of religious beliefs. In…

Explores the differences between the U.S. Constitution and British constitutional law. Specifically examines the concept of the U.S. Bill of Rights in relation to the United Kingdom common law doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty. (BSR)

As the most unionized segment of the public sector workforce in the USA, teachers and their bargaining representatives wield significant power in the world of educational labour relations and beyond. Yet, just as the First Amendment's freedom of association clause affords unions the right to exist, its concomitant recognition that employees are…

The rationale for comprehensive reform of Latin American higher education crystallized in the mid-1990s in policy documents published by the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. This "Washington consensus" of the multilateral banks advocated, among other measures, greater reliance on private sources of funding, increased…

Examines provisions of the South African Constitution pertaining to pupil rights in conjunction with the construction the United States Supreme Court has placed on corresponding provisions of the U.S. Constitution. (46 footnotes) (MLF)