...LEGAL RESEARCH AND WRITING Entrenchment: 2010 Kenya Constitution LEGAL RESEARCH AND WRITING Entrenchment: 2010 Kenya Constitution INTRODUCTION The Kenya constitution is a codified constitution, as all laws are clearly spelt out in an enclosed document. Entrenchment deals with the legal procedures for modification of a constitution. An entrenched constitution recognizes the constitution and its process of modification as different from other laws .Key features of a codified constitution, entrenched – The provisions laid out in a codified constitution are entrenched, which means that they are difficult to amend or abolish. Some constitutions contain certain clauses which prevent them being changed at all. A good example would be the German ‘eternity clause’. Others prevent the changing or amending of parts of the constitution during times of conflict, or before a certain time period. An un-entrenched constitution does not recognize the constitutional law as different or supreme and thus constitutions can be modified as easily as statutory laws. The procedure for modifying a constitution is often called amending. Amending an entrenched constitution needs numerous procedures than modification of a statue. Sometimes, this is because the constitution is considered supreme law. Article 2(1) of the Kenyan Constitution of 2010, states that the Constitution is the supreme law of the republic and binds all persons and all state organs at both levels of...
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...Abstract Recent evidence suggests that CEO power reduces shareholder value and the efficacy of incentive pay systems. To better understand how the power affects firm governance and performance, we decompose CEO power into three dimensions--structural, ability based, and ownership related. While structural power is indeed harmful--it is associated with higher managerial entrenchment, lower pay for performance sensitivity (PPS), and weaker firm performance--its impact on firm performance is benign when CEO power is restrained by strong external governance mechanisms. Concentration of ability based power in CEO appears to enhance firm performance, but only when external governance is strong. CEO share ownership (as independent variable) shows a U-shaped relation with entrenchment, and -shaped relations with PPS and performance. These results imply that ownership power arising at a high level of share ownership negates the beneficial effects of aligning CEO-shareholder interests through cash flow rights. November 10, 2008 JEL classification: G30, G34, J 33, L25, M52,G32, Keywords: CEO power, managerial entrenchment, Pay for Performance Sensitivity, Firm performance, Share ownership, CEO Centrality 1 Both are at Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109. Email: ehkim@umich.edu and yaolu@umich.edu. We have benefitted from helpful comments and suggestions from Sugato Bhattacharyya, Amy Dittmar, Luo Jiang, Jin-Mo Kim, John McConnell, Adair Morse...
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...Porto, Portugal. Tel. (351)-22-5571100, Fax (351)-22-5505050. E-mail: jfarinha@fep.up.pt. CORPORATE GOVERNANCE: A SURVEY OF THE LITERATURE ABSTRACT This paper reviews the theoretical and empirical literature on the nature and consequences of the corporate governance problem, providing some guidance on the major points of consensus and dissent among researchers on this issue. Also analysed is the effectiveness of a set of external and internal disciplining mechanisms in providing a solution for the corporate governance problem. Apart from this, particular emphases are given to the special conflicts arising from the relationship between managers and shareholders in companies with large ownership diffusion, the issue of managerial entrenchment and the link between firm value and corporate governance. Keywords: agency theory, corporate governance, ownership structure JEL Classification: G300 1 1 Introduction Recent financial scandals associated to accounting and other frauds allegedly blamed to top company managers (e.g. Enron, Worldcom, Adelphia) have brought into public light the recurring question of whether companies are managed on the best interests of shareholders and other company stakeholders such as workers, creditors and the general community. A point that has been made frequently is that top managers may possess too much power inside their companies and that a general lack of accountability and control of their activities is...
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...For other uses, see Constitution (disambiguation). A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed.[1] These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is. When these principles are written down into a single document or set of legal documents, those documents may be said to embody a written constitution; if they are written down in a single comprehensive document, it is said to embody a codified constitution. Constitutions concern different levels of organizations, from sovereign states to companies and unincorporated associations. A treaty which establishes an international organization is also its constitution, in that it would define how that organization is constituted. Within states, a constitution defines the principles upon which the state is based, the procedure in which laws are made and by whom. Some constitutions, especially codified constitutions, also act as limiters of state power, by establishing lines which a state's rulers cannot cross, such as fundamental rights. An example is the constitution of the United States of America. George Washington at Constitutional Convention of 1787 signing of the U.S. Constitution. The Constitution of India is the longest written constitution of any sovereign country in the world,[2] containing 444 articles in 22 parts,[3][4] 12 schedules and 118 amendments, with 117,369 words in its English-language translation,[5]...
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...acclaimed democratization with inept leadership, nepotism, electoral malpractices, bigotry, religious crises, dishonesty, immorality, and favoritism among others. The problems facing the Nigerian nation-state are too many to mention but a few, the failure of leadership, unemployment, ethnicity and religious intolerance further disunite us, the lack of capacity to utilize natural resources, corruption which permeates not only every aspect of our political system but also, every aspect of our lives, and not long ago, militancy which leads to kidnapping, bunkering, and recently terrorism which has caused us more woes than any other. Though, they weren’t borne out of nothing, and it was as a result of causality, the principle that every event must have a cause. We’ve always played blame-game, and while the government, who is supposed to take responsibilities, blames others for it woes, citizens chose to fault the process in which those in government came into view. Have we ever thought of checking the inadequacies of those that occupied our political class, their...
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...to be modified. Disadvantages (from the point of view of Government): 1.Hard to change. 2.It is easy for you to understand your rights 3.It sets FIXED boundries, duties and resposibilities to the governmanetal bodies. 4.It can be "re-interpreted" over the generations without having to be modified. ADVANTAGES: UNWRITTEN An unwritten constitution based on conventions has the advantage of being extremely adaptable or flexible. Since it is unwritten, it can be changed easily to deal with new situations. All that is necessary for the practises to be changed is for Parliament to agree that change is necessary. Old constitutional practises do not become 'millstones' that make it difficult to deal with changed circumstances. There is an entrenchment, but one that given democratic consensus may be more easily modified than as a written constitution. So long as democratic processes are in place and Parliament and the Judiciary act as elected guardians, then in many ways the British Constitution appears more fitted to reflect a changing world and changing circumstances. Unwritten Constitution changes to reflect the times in which we live. DISADVANTAGE: It carries risks. If a constitution is to place limits on government or to set out the parameters within which governments must operate, then the fact that it can be adapted by government whim can be problematic. Written constitutions can become set in stone. What was appropriate in the past may become anachronistic, outmoded and...
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...Abstract Having fixed-term Parliaments in the United Kingdom is something that has been debated across the political spectrum for some years and, with the enactment of the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act 2011, is no longer something which is merely debated, but a political and constitutional reality. The Act came into force with little consultation, research, or advice to or by the Government; it was exceptionally hurried legislation. This means that there is little written on the wider constitutional effects of the Act, and it is exactly that which this essay will try to examine. To analyse the Act’s significance I have looked at the position prior to the Act and what the Act changed, before moving on to examining and critically assessing the plethora of arguments that both sides put forward. A fuller copy of this paper is available upon request. 1 The Position Before the Act and how the Act has Changed it: The changing of election timing in the United Kingdom is something that is not often tampered with. The Meeting of Parliament Act 1694 provided that a general election for Parliament must be held (at most) every three years. The Septennial Act 1715 changed this to a maximum of seven years. Finally the Parliament Act 1911 amended this to provide for a five-year maximum term before a general election must be called. Before the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act 2011 the power to dissolve Parliament was retained by the Crown, under the royal prerogative. The royal...
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...the composition accurate to the votes cast. * The introduction of AV would to commons would not change the current constituency structure of the UK, and would also be a bit more proportional than the current Westminster system FPTP. Explain the arguments in favour of a codified constitution. * Codification is the only way of protecting individual rights and freedoms, the current quasi-entrenched HRA fails to do this, reflected in the conservative plans to replace it with a less powerful British bill of rights with will neither enjoy quasi-entrenchment nor a direct association with the ECHR. This shows how the government of the day can tamper with our rights in the absence of codification. * It may help prevent any further drift towards excessive executive power, codification will surely constrain possibly over-mighty governments who are easily able to alter to constitution. However, it may not necessarily be entrenchment de jure but possibly de facto, which would be unnecessary and fail to curb excessive executive power. * Codification will bring Britain into line with other modern democracies, the UK is one of three, including Israel and New Zealand to not have a codified constitution. However, we would be exchanging flexibility for rigidity, many people argue our organic constitution is a great advantage of our current system. To what extent have the coalition government’s proposals to reform the UK been controversial? * In 2011 the coalition introduced...
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...Wilfrid Laurier University Scholars Commons @ Laurier Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive) 2010 Three Essays in Corporate Governance Vishaal Rabindranauth Anand Baulkaran Wilfrid Laurier University Follow this and additional works at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/etd Part of the Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods Commons Recommended Citation Baulkaran, Vishaal Rabindranauth Anand, "Three Essays in Corporate Governance" (2010). Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive). Paper 1121. This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive) by an authorized administrator of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca. 1*1 Library and Archives Canada Bibliotheque et Archives Canada Published Heritage Branch Direction du Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-75409-2 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-75409-2 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a nonexclusive license allowing Library and Archives Canada to reproduce, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, communicate to the public by telecommunication or on the Internet, loan, distribute and sell theses worldwide, for commercial or noncommercial purposes, in microform, paper...
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...were responsible for producing an enormous amount of upheaval in both countries. Both nations were immersed in social, political and economic backwardness. In this context, both political episodes should be construed as an attempt to reverse decline and set the course for modernization. The main thesis of this essay is based on the notion that whilst there are some similarities between both political events, the main difference resides in the fact that the Meiji Restoration began the centralization of the mechanisms of governance and induced the social and economic modernization of the country. At the same time, the Chinese Revolution of 1911 did not succeed in engendering a sound system of government capable of reversing the country’s decline. The first part of the essay will deal with the main characteristics of the Meiji restoration of 1868. The second section of the essay will outline the main features pertaining to the Chinese Revolution of 1911. The third part of the essay will examine the similarities and differences between these two events, with the ultimate purpose of determining the qualitative differentiation to be made between the concepts of “restoration” and “revolutions”. The main characteristics of the Meiji restoration of 1868 The Meiji Restoration of 1868 can be interpreted as a concatenation of events that led to the establishment of a political compact that centralized power in the...
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...AMENDMENT PROCESS OF INDIAN CONSTITUTION The procedure of amendment makes the Constitution of India neither totally rigid nor totally flexible, rather a curious mixture of both. Some provisions can be easily changed and for some others, special procedures are to be followed. Despite the fact that India is a federal state, the proposal for amending the constitution can be initiated only in the House of the Union Legislature and the State Legislatures have no such power. In case of ordinary legislation, if both houses of the Parliament disagree, a joint session is convened. But in case of amendment of bills, unless both the houses agree, it cannot materialize, as in such cases there is no provision for convening the joint session of both the Houses of the Parliament. In fact, there are three methods of amending the Constitution. But Article 368 of the constitution which lays down the procedure for amendment mentions two methods. 1) An amendment of the constitution may be initiated only by the introduction of a Bill for the purpose in either house of Parliament and when a bill is passed in each house. i) By a majority of total membership of that house. ii) By a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of that house present and voting, it shall be presented to the President who shall give his assent to the Bill and there upon the Constitution shall stand amended in accordance with the term of the Bill. Most of the provisions of the constitution...
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...role of the Constitution Review commission in the constitution making process, the relationship between 1972 constitution and the UNIP constitution. The assignment will also analyse the difference between provisions of article 71(2) (c) of 1991 and 1996 and the relevant case law that brought about the change of the provision. Definitions of CRC will be given and a brief history of the various CRCs will be given and in addition each of the relevant questions will be looked at individually and answered according to the case law and statutes available and relevant to them. A: THE ROLE OF CONSTITUTION REVIEW COMMISSION IN THE CONSTITUTION MAKING PROCESS A constitution review commission is an inquiry into matters of public interest that is appointed by the president. The constitution review commission is normally abbreviated as CRC. A CRC is made in pursuance of the Inquiries Act CAP 41 which states in part that the Act (Inquiries Act) shall provide for the appointment of a commission to inquire into and report on matters referred to them. Article 2 (1) states, “The president may issue a commission appointing one or more commissions to inquire into any matter in which an inquiry would in the opinion of the president, be for the public welfare”. Role of CRCs in constitution making process. The role that CRCs play in the constitution making process can never be over emphasized. These two aspects that is the process of constitutional making and the content of the constitution must not...
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...CORPORATE OWNERSHIP IN LATIN AMERICAN FIRMS: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF DUAL-CLASS SHARES Luiz Ricardo Kabbach de Castro Rafel Crespi i Cladera Universitat de les Illes Balears Ruth V. Aguilera University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign We assembly new data on dual-class firms in Latin America and analyze the relationship between the largest shareholder characteristics and its decision to leverage voting rights. First, we describe who are the largest shareholders in Latin American firms. Second, we find that both the type and origin of the largest shareholder, together with firm- and country-level characteristics, are important determinants to explain the decision to separate voting from cashflow rights. To tackle the determinants of ownership in Latin American publicly listed firms has both managerial and policy implications because the largest shareholders are those in charge to define business strategies and the allocation of firms’ resources. Key words: Corporate ownership; dual-class shares; voting rights; cash-flow rights; Latin America. 1 INTRODUCTION Most of the analysis of the Modern Corporation has focused on the conflicts of interest between managers and owners. Yet, recent literature, extending the discussion of the classic ownermanager conflict, adds minority versus majority shareholders conflict where more concentrated ownership structures takes place (La Porta, López-de-Silanes, & Shleifer, 1999; Villalonga & Amit, 2009; Young, Peng, Ahlstrom, Bruton,...
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...flaws and failures that were once side-lined in the public eye are becoming increasingly prevalent and visible today. This paper on “Examining Meritocracy and Elitism in Singapore” serves to explore the inherent contradictions within the concept of meritocracy and investigate the systemic failures arising from the dissonance caused by how meritocracy is practised in Singapore where the inevitable social and income inequalities results in an elitist system which perpetuates itself. The central research question is how meritocracy shapes the Singapore elite and in turn how the elite shapes meritocracy in the country. In this paper, the elite is defined as the class of English-educated Singaporeans who subsequently rises to the top as the political and bureaucratic elite, unless otherwise specified. This paper will discuss how the elite accumulates an increasing degree and concentration of influence which allows them to consolidate their dominance over the rest of society, as well as its attendant consequences. This paper will thus illustrate how instead of seeking to bridge the social divide, the elites’ privileged and entrenched position actually leads to limiting social mobility as they continue to safeguard their self-interests. II. MERITOCRACY AND ITS DANGERS Meritocracy was a term coined by...
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...Cabinet ✓ * Parliament * Functions of Parliament ✓ * What are they? * How effective are they? * Powers of Parliament ✓ * What are they? * How effective are they? * Parliamentary Reform ✓ * What are they? * How effective are they? * Relationship between Parliament and Government ✓ * Factors that affect it * How the coalition affects it Constitution: 2 Types of Constitution * Codified & Uncodified Codified Constitution * Constitution where the rules are written down in a single document. Example could be the USA. Creates a series of checks and balances for government, and also a separation of powers. Creates entrenchment, and is rigid (difficult to amend), and this prevents the executive from changing the constitution for its own benefit. * Are judiciable, in that being a legal document, the judiciary has the ultimate authority to define the interpretation of constitutional reform. Advantages –...
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