In recent years the democratization process, which was characterized by the expansion of principles of democracy, human rights and the rule of law in many countries in the world, and by a significant shift of power to constitutional courts, has been replaced with the worldwide rise of populism and democratic backsliding. Democratic backsliding is an...
Constitutional Capture and “Illiberal Democracy“: The Case of Poland
In my paper I intend to use the Polish case study to reflect upon the relationship between populism and democracy. A widespread view that populism is a democratic response to liberal excesses will be the main target of my criticism. I will argue that, at least as far as constitutional capture in Poland is concerned,...
Democratic Backsliding in Israel
Recently Israeli democracy, once considered strong and stable ,is backsliding. I’ll claim that Israel is especially susceptible to democratic backsliding because its constitutional order is a semi-liberal constitutional order. Israel‘s continued occupation of the Occupied Territories, aspects of its treatment of its Arab citizens and aspects of its religion state relations combine to make it...
India‘s Third Constitutional Retrogression
The current retrogressive phase marks the 3rd substantial challenge the Indian Constitution has faced. The first arose in the 1970s, when Indira Gandhi‘s government used the Emergency powers under the Constitution to suspend fundamental rights and sought to entrench its powers through an Amendment. The second threat came in the late 1990s, when Vajpayee‘s government...
Near Misses: Avoiding Constitutional Retrogression
There has been a good deal of attention to constitutional backsliding and erosion in many democracies around the work, including established democracies like the United States, Israel and Japan. Several newer democracies have failed completely. Understanding the processes by which backsliding occurs also draws our attention to cases in which it does not. What explains...