nPosted on September 24, 2019
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Key Points
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nThe anniversary of a nation’s adoption of a constitution could be a really big deal. I would think it would be for Cambodia, because the formal adoption of its constitution on this date in 1993 transformed the nation from:
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- civil-war torn – to political, rather than military, competition between parties
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| Civil wars are horrible… |
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- autocratic (rule with no concern for others’ desires or rights) – to a nation with equal rights, including the right to vote, enshrined in the highest law of the land
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- oligarchy (rule by a small group of people) – to a constitutional monarchy with regular elections
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nBUT…
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n(You knew there’d be a “but,” didn’t you?)
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This constitution was written with United Nations guidance, and U.N. folks hung around until there was an election. The election seemed to be fair, and about 90% of the registered voters participated (wow!), so the U.N. mission withdrew and allowed the Cambodian government to rule without oversight.
This constitution was written with United Nations guidance, and U.N. folks hung around until there was an election. The election seemed to be fair, and about 90% of the registered voters participated (wow!), so the U.N. mission withdrew and allowed the Cambodian government to rule without oversight.n
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nIn 1997, there was a coup, and lots of people died in the forceful takeover…and ever since then, the nation has been run as a one-party country.
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nIn other words, on paper the nation is a democracy, but in reality it’s back to mostly authoritarian / mostly oligarchical.
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nYikes-y!
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| Location of Cambodia |
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nCambodia is located in southeast Asia. As you probably know, part of the reason the nation has had such terrible problems is that the Vietnamese War extended into Cambodia. That meant U.S. bombings of the nation. Even worse was a genocide carried out by the Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot. Horrific stuff. Hopefully happier days are ahead for these people!
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nTake a look at these Cambodian children. Don’t you hope their smiles will be more and more frequent?
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nAlso on this date:
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nMuppet-creator Jim Henson’s birthday
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nNational Day in Guinea-Bissau
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nSchwenkfelder Thanksgiving
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nChief Justice John Marshall’s birthday
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nnAnniversary of the establishment of the Supreme Court of the United States
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nNational Punctuation Day
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nHeritage Day in South Africa
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nAnniversary of the Failed Attack on Lomé in Togo
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nBirthday of Supercentenarian Sarah Knauss
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nNational Voter Registration Day
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n(Fourth Tuesday of September)
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nPlan ahead:
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Check out my Pinterest boards for:
Check out my Pinterest boards for:
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nSeptember holidays
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nSeptember birthdays
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nHistorical anniversaries in September
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nAnd here are my Pinterest boards for:
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