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This article describes Bangladesh's very important document - The Constitution; which connections to our countries Constitution. This article focuses on how Bangladesh has rewrote their constitution in hopes to create a better nation.

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Our Constitution has experienced a roller coaster ride since its adoption. It had a promising start (1972) but soon fell into turbulent phases of constitutional chaos (1975-90). It tried to bounce back for a while (1990) but faced barrages of democracy-defying assaults again. Now, fifty years into its birth, the present appears worrying and the future bleak. In this short opinion piece, I will try to understand why.

The Constitution of 1972 had solid ideological foundations. The framers had a patriotic conviction in our unique national identity, parliamentary democracy, socialist economy, religious tolerance and fundamental freedoms. Hence, the original scripture was famously based on the four foundational principles - democracy, socialism, nationalism, and secularism (Preamble and Art 8).

It had a structural identity too. The executive and legislative branches were modelled on a Westminster-type parliamentary system. The judicial branch was organised in a US-style separation of powers model. Chances of Pakistani-style presidential authoritarianism and military intervention in politics were sealed (Arts 48 and 7). The rulers' accountability to the peoples' representatives (Art 57), judicial oversight of the executive and legislative branches (Art 102) and the citizens' protection against the state excesses (Art 44) were guaranteed. Watchdog institutions like the parliamentary committees (Art 76), Ombudsman (Art 77), Election Commission (Art 118), Comptroller and Auditor General (Art 127), and Public Service Commission (Art 137) were all built to the highest possible standard of institutional design known in those days.

However, fifty years later, the Constitution's four foundational pillars seem ludicrously contradictory. The post-1975 military rulers hurt the framers' four foundational principles grievously. They discarded "socialism" for a market-based capitalist economy and jubilantly axed the Constitution's principal identity - the "Bangalee Nationalism" (5th Amendment, 1979). They would also wipe out "Secularism" and islamise the state (5th and 8th Amendments, 1979 and 1988 respectively). So clinical was the assault that even the political party responsible for drafting the original script would give in. They would "revive" the four pillars, but with compromises, contradictions and problematic articulations (15th Amendment, 2011). Therefore, the situation stands that the country has either entirely walked away from some of its foundational principles (socialism, for example) or irreparably damaged the others (democracy, nationalism and secularism).

The original Constitution's structural arrangement also fell into hotchpotch. The parliamentary system was discarded almost immediately after its introduction (4th Amendment, 1975). The subsequent military intervention into politics brought back the Pakistani-era presidential authoritarianism (5th and 7th Amendments, 1979 and 1986 respectively). A mass revolution of 1990 sought to revive the parliamentary system (12th Amendment 1992), but the country would only fall into competitively authoritarian party regimes (1991-96, 1996-2001, 2001-06 and 2009-13). The current decade of the country's (extra-)constitutional life is marked by polarisation and monopolisation. During this torturous journey, the parliament has lost sight of its prime duty - enforcing individual and collective ministerial responsibilities. Governance continues to look like a crude "elective(!) dictatorship" (Lord Hailsham, The Richard Dimbleby Lecture, 14 Oct 1976, BBC, London).

The judiciary has been marginalised, bringing its institutional assertiveness to a knee (16th Amendment, 2014 and the 16th Amnemdnet Case, 2016). The nation's electoral machinery has been laid bare. A promising experiment with an election-time caretaker government (13th Amnemdnet, 1996) has been purposefully mishandled. It failed to do the good it was meant to do - contribute to the country's electoral integrity. Instead, it expedited the court-packing, scandalised the judges and then died a controversial death (15th Amendment, 2011). The "Ombudsman" was never created. The Comptroller and Auditor General, Public Service Commission and other "constitutional institutions" fell into the "executive's vortex".

Now, what could explain this disastrous failure of a remarkable Constitution? Many of us (specially those on the left) tend to blame the framers' "lack of institutional imagination" for this constitutional debacle. While this view could make sense in several areas of constitutional design (the executive-legislature relations, the government's absolute appointment power, for example), I would argue something else. The constitution-making itself carried, inevitably perhaps, some clues to its future unmaking. Two of them were prominent.

First, the total exclusion of the religious-conservative political elements from the constitution-making process (how logical it appeared in 1972) had reduced (if not dislodged) the Constitution's political morale. In 1972, an essential requirement of the parliamentary system - conservative-liberal bipartisanship, was conspicuously missing. The conservative political elements of undivided Pakistan - the Muslim League (ML) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), actively opposed the liberation of Bangladesh. They lost their right to exist in the newly independent country, but the pro-Soviet leftists could not fill the vacuum with their insignificant mass base in society. So, the seismic political change of 1975 led to a quick resurgence of the radical right. From that point onwards, Bangladesh's constitutional unmaking has been rapid. Avenging their exclusion from the constitution-making process, the religious nationalists would actively deconstruct the Constitution and its foundational pillars.

Secondly, the framers of the Constitution lived in a society where politics had always been about personalising public power rather than institutionalising it. Even the drafters were drawing from a personalistic leadership style that would only be aggravated during military rule. After the democratic revival of 1990, persons, egos and political dynasties would block the prospect of internal democracy, mass-based recruitment and merit-based promotion system within the political parties. Distrust and distaste for democratic opposition would only yield violence, election rigging and back-door conspiracies for ascending or clinging to power. It led to radicalisation, polarisation and extra-constitutional intervention in politics.

When we talk about a Constitutional democracy, we talk about its "Democratic Instrumental Vision" (Johan P. Olsen, Governing through Institution Building, Oxford 2010). Institution building is key to the project. Putting persons before institutions is like putting the horse before the cart. In 1972, our Constitution framers might have designed a liberal constitutional order. Whether theirs was a workable one is debatable. The politicians, including the framers themselves, would make and unmake the system in ways that best served their personal or partisan interests over the nation's long-term institutional interests. Power-personalisation must have its consequences. Hence, the Constitution's continuing agony should not surprise us.
The Writer is a Lecturer, University of Hull Law School, UK.

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Constitution-making and unmaking in Bangladesh

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Our Constitution has experienced a roller coaster ride since its adoption. It had a promising start (1972) but soon fell into turbulent phases of constitutional chaos (1975-90). It tried to bounce back for a while (1990) but faced barrages of democracy-defying assaults again. Now, fifty years into its birth, the present appears worrying and the future bleak.

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This article is concerned with the communist leader in China getting to be their leader for another year. This will be Xi Jinping's third year being the Chinese leader. This article is connected to the three branches of U.S. government since it shows how different the government in the U.S. is to other parts of the world.

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World faces tension with China under Xi Jinping’s third term

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BEIJING (AP) — The world faces the prospect of more tension with China over trade, security and human rights after Xi Jinping, the country’s most powerful leader in decades, awarded himself another term as leader of the ruling Communist Party.

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This website allows you to click on any part of the world and it will tell you when all of the elections are within that country. I specifically attached a link to the Republic of Kazakhstan. This relates to my lesson because the students will be holding a classroom election and will have to vote on who they believe is the best candidate.

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IFES Election Guide | Country Profile: Kazakhstan

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* A 2007 constitutional amendment shortened the presidential term from seven years to five years.

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https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/10/11/britains-king-charles-iii-to-be-crowned-in-may

This article talks about appointing the new king in England. This is similar to when a President's presidential term is of 4 years is up and a new one is elected.

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The much-anticipated confirmation of the date comes just over a month after the death of Charles's mother, Queen Elizabeth II [File: Daniel Leal/Pool via Reuters]

The coronation of King Charles III will take place on May 6 next year, Buckingham Palace has announced, in a ceremony that will seek to reflect the British monarchy's historic traditions and its modern role.

Charles, 73, will be formally crowned at London's Westminster Abbey, following a long tradition dating back more than 900 years.

The monarch's wife, Queen Consort Camilla, 75, will also be crowned, the palace confirmed.

May 6 is the fourth birthday of Charles's grandson Archie, the son of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan.

"The coronation will reflect the monarch's role today and look towards the future, while being rooted in longstanding traditions and pageantry," royal officials said in a short statement.

The much-anticipated confirmation of the date comes just over a month after the death of Charles's mother Queen Elizabeth II, and after widespread speculation about when the ceremony might be held.

Charles immediately became the United Kingdom's monarch when Elizabeth died on September 8. He also took over as head of state of 14 Commonwealth countries, including Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

The queen, who was 96, passed away at her remote Scottish estate Balmoral Castle after a year of declining health. She was on the throne for a record 70 years.

World leaders attended her state funeral at Westminster Abbey before she was laid to rest after a ceremony at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.

Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to watch, with the same number queueing round the clock over four days to pay their final respects as her coffin lay in state.

Similar crowds will be expected for the first coronation since 1953 and the accompanying display of closely choreographed pomp and pageantry.

The coronation of British monarchs is both a solemn religious service and an occasion for celebration.

The priceless Crown Jewels form the centrepiece, symbolising the history and power of the British monarchy over the centuries.

Charles is expected to sign a proclamation formally declaring the coronation date at a meeting of the Privy Council formal body of advisers later this year.

During the ceremony, he will be "anointed, blessed and consecrated" by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the highest-ranking cleric in the Church of England, who has crowned the monarch since 1066.

The coronation traditionally takes place some months after a new sovereign has ascended to the throne, following a period of national and royal mourning as well as intense preparation.

Elizabeth II's own coronation at Westminster Abbey on June 2, 1953 - some 16 months after she had become queen - was the first major televised international event.

Charles, who was four at the time, recalled in 2006 that crowds outside Buckingham Palace chanting "We want the Queen!" kept him awake the night before.

Some 27 million people - more than half the population at the time - followed the event on television. It was, for many, the first time they had watched TV.

The ceremony lasted almost three hours, drew 8,251 official guests crammed into temporary tiers and included representatives from 129 nations and territories.

In recent days, the British media has speculated that Charles wants a slimmed-down ceremony, mindful that a lengthy display of wealth may not sit well in a country in the grip of a cost-of-living crisis.

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Britain's King Charles III to be crowned in May

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The coronation of King Charles III will take place on May 6 next year, Buckingham Palace has announced, in a ceremony that will seek to reflect the British monarchy's historic traditions and its modern role. Charles, 73, will be formally crowned at London's Westminster Abbey, following a long tradition dating back more than 900 years.

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This article is about how Athens became the Capital of Greece. The article goes into details about how and why Athens was choosen to be Greece's capital. This article is a great resource for students to see how other capitals in the world were choosen compared to our countries capital.

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This article talks about the Eygpytian Pyramids and their relative locations. Not only does this text provide general information about the pyramids but it also shows how they are relatively built in a straight line, which ties into the lesson on the monuments of Washington D.C.

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The pyramids of Egypt are far too numerous to be all located here, but if we look more closely, and if we are content with the main pyramids, the list of 54 royal pyramids or supposed, we find that they are grouped in some large necropolises that can be located easily.

And when we do, we are surprised to find that these necropolises are all located near Cairo, the furthest to 60Kms of the city, and rather to the South. They are all on the left bank of the Nile, towards the West. It is not by chance, it is just that in the conception of spirituality during ancient Egypt, the West is associated with the world of the dead and the East with that of the living. So the necropolises were in the west, the cities in the east. This is of course due to the race of the Sun, which appeared every morning on the side of the living and set in the realm of the dead.

The necropolis

There are a handful of royal necropolises with pyramids, since this tradition (if one can speak of tradition) was followed only during the 2nd, 4th, 5th and 6th dynasties, for the most part. There were still some pyramids later (twelfth and thirteenth, then seventeenth and eighteenth dynasties for later), but most of the Egyptian pyramids were built during those few hundred years of the old empire.
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Necropolis map (click to enlarge)

The main necropolis was that of Saqqara, dominated by the Step Pyramid of Djoser. The plateau of Saqqara is about twenty kilometers south of Cairo, on the left bank. It's just west of Helwan.

The best known is probably Giza, where the three giant pyramids are located. The plateau of Giza is similar to that of Saqqara, but is further north in the territory of the city of ... Giza. It is in the suburbs of Cairo, in the Southwest. The agglomeration's urban planning is just at the edge of the plateau.

The other necropolises are Dahshur, just south of Saqqara, and Abusir, just north. Abousir has received almost all the tombs of the pharaohs of the 5th dynasty. About sixty kilometers south of Cairo is Meïdoum, another necropolis known mainly for its truncated pyramid. It's actually a pyramid that has been transformed, giving it that special air of a spilled pot. Zaouiet el-Aryan is three kilometers south of Giza, it is a small necropolis where we find the unfinished Pyramid of Khaba. Abu Rawash hosts the tomb of Pharaoh Djedefrê, son of Khufu and brother of Khafra. Abu Rawash is northwest of Cairo, between the airport and the city center. It's a rather urbanized area.

During the Middle Kingdom the pharaohs had moved the capital, Memphis had fallen into disuse. They were instead buried in the necropolis of Litch and Hawara, close to the new capital. Hawara is a little further south than Meidoum, and especially more to the west. It is the only necropolis hosting pyramids that is so far from the Nile. Litch is a necropolis on the contrary close to the Nile, like the others. It is approximately 20Kms north of Meidoum, about forty south of Cairo.

Almost all the pyramids of Egypt are thus in Cairo or South of Cairo, in necropolises that are, from North to South:

Location of the Pyramids of Giza

The pyramids of Giza are on the plateau of the same name, a rocky plateau that dominates the Nile valley from a few dozen meters to the highest.
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It is located 25Kms south of Cairo, in the city of Giza, which is in the suburbs of Cairo, the capital of Egypt, and 8Kms from the Nile. It should be known that formerly an arm of the Nile passed at the feet of the plateau, but this one was diverted meanwhile.

This location is not trivial: The ancient city of Memphis was on the other side of the Nile, it was an important city at the exit of the Nile Delta, a bit like Cairo days. It was a city richly watered by the waters of the river, with a large population. At that time (we are around 2,500 BC), we were at the fourth of the 30 dynasties that make up the history of ancient Egypt, that is, at the very beginning of the reunification of northern Egypt. and South, which marks the beginning of the old Empire. The kings of the first two dynasties had settled their tombs at Umm al-Qa'ab, at Abydos, those of the Third Dynasty were rather at Saqqara, a little further south of Giza. But the Giza site had been used since the early days of the old empire, not as a royal necropolis, but many tombs were already there.

When the kings of the Fourth Dynasty chose a site, they bent over this plateau on which there were already tombs, but no royal tombs and had their tombs built there.

GPS coordinatesGPS

The GPS coordinates of the Giza Pyramids are exactly 29 ° 58'44 "North and 31 ° 08'02" East. If you have the Google Earth software, then click on this link or open it by double-clicking it, once downloaded: It will indicate the exact location of the site: Google Earth links.
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On this map it can be seen that the Giza plateau is not only at the limit between the desert and the Nile valley, but also on the edge of the Cairo conurbation.

Distances

If the necropolis of Giza is only a few kilometers from the center of Cairo, it is strongly advised not to go by its own means, There is plenty of transportation here to get around without having to worry about driving in a city with difficult traffic.

Otherwise, for the curiosity, know that the pyramids of Giza are 2 131Kms and 100m from the Colosseum, 3,215Kms and 190m Eiffel Tower, 3,510Kms and 520m from the Tower of London, 4,568Kms from Taj Mahal, 7,570Kms and 440m from the forbidden city of Beijing, 9,042Kms and 710m from the statue of Liberty and finally they are at 9 869Kms and 140m from the Christ the Redeemer of Rio. All these distances are expressed as the crow flies, of course!

Provincial pyramids

Provincial pyramids are small pyramids erected during the Third or Fourth Dynasty. They bear this name because they were not close to the capital Memphis but in the provinces led by Pharaoh.

They are all in different places: Athribis, Elephantine, Edfu, Hierakonpolis, Nagada, Abydos, Al-Minya, and Seilah.

Learn more about the provincial pyramids.

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Location of the Egyptian Pyramids, the largest and best preserved in the country, symbols of the ancient Egyptian Empire