The early twenty-first century appears of be a period of turmoil in many seemingly stable constitutional democracies. This panel and two others discuss such questions as these: Are there general forces weakening constitutional democracy around the world, or are there nation-specific reasons for crises that simply happen to be occurring at roughly the same time?...
A Coup Against Constitutional Democracy: The Case of Hungary
The paper argues that this current Hungarian constitutional system was made possible by FIDESZ‘ anti-pluralist nationalist populism, and commitment to an ‘illiberal state‘. To achieve this aim the populist government misuses the country‘s lack of constitutional culture, and violates the values of constitutional democracy in the name of its own understanding of ‘national constitutional identity‘.
Constitutional Culture and Democracy in Mexico: A Critical View of the 100-Year-Old Mexican Constitution
This year the Mexican Constitution turns 100 years old. The centenary could make us think that in Mexico we have a strong constitutional culture. However, this assumption is wrong, since the strength of a constitutional culture does not depends on the longevity of the Constitution. Constitutional culture is an open and incomplete project of learning,...
Constitutional Inertia and Regime Pluralism in Asia
This paper discusses the fate of constitutional democracy and constitutional authoritarianism in several East Asian regimes.
The Democratic Resilience of the Canadian Constitution
We advance three categories of institutional explanations for the resilience of Canadian constitutional democracy. First, we show that Canada‘s choice to chart its own unique course in the debate pitting presidentialism and parliamentarism has borne the fruits of democracy. Second, we demonstrate that Canada‘s robust “democracy branch“ has been both a source and driver of...