Democracy is premised on the existence of a polity with members by whom (and for whom?) democratic discourse takes place. Hence, the ECtHR’s determination that democracy is the only ECHR-compatible system of governance does not in and of itself resolve the tension between, OTOH, limitations of participation in democratic self-governance, and, OTOH, demands of (universal)...
New technologies as an instrument for citizen engagement and enforcing the participatory dimension of the democratic principle
The incorporation of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) into politics introduced fundamental changes to democratic societies and new formats in the relationship between citizens and elected officials, allowing a rekindling of their interactions. New technologies enable faster and easier communication and governments have been moving towards an Internet of Things (IoT) based framework, enabling citizen...
Neoliberal and Welfare Interpretation of Social Development and Global Crisis
This paper deals with neoliberal and welfare conception of social development as dominant but mutually contrasted ones in contemporary political debates, and as crucial ones for interpreting global crisis. Their basic differences concern relation between state and economics in modern capitalism, with essential implications for an issue of actual global crisis. Policies based on one...
Militarization by Infra-constitutional Means: How the Mexican Supreme Court Paved the way for the Ley de Seguridad Interior and How It Should Invalidate It
In December 2017, President Peña enacted the Law of internal security. It empowers the military to counter any threat to internal security, including organized crime. Article 129 of the Constitution forbids the military, during peacetime, to perform any functions not linked to military affairs. Moreover, social movements and NGO‘s have argued that militarization failed. Also,...
Mixed Methods in Constitutional Law: A Question-Driven Approach
Recent decades have witnessed an explosion of interest in multimethod research. It is partly a by-product of the rise of inter-disciplinarity but it is also a result of intra-disciplinarydevelopments, such as the demise of methodological ‘paradigm wars‘ and the rise of computational approaches. Sited at the edge of law and politics, with material and symbolic...
National parliaments and information asymmetries in the European Semester
This paper analyses information asymmetries in relevant procedures in the European Semester. The paper seeks to map the consequences for parliaments’ standing and provide a contribution on the role of parliaments for checks of executive institutions in issues of finance in light of the many changes driven by the economic and financial crisis. Several measures...
National Security and Human Rights in the Courtroom
Does Australian law provide any tangible protection for human rights in the context of national security cases? For better or worse, human rights and national security are often portrayed as two social aims locked in an inevitable tug-of-war. In Australian courtrooms, basic rights to procedural fairness, legal counsel, proportionate punishment and so on have been...
Protection of Fallen Heroes and Freedom of Expression: A Comparative Study of Mainland China and the United States
In December 2017, mainland China came up with a draft law providing comprehensive protection for national heroes and martyrs. The draft law prohibits twisting, vilifying, and negating the deeds and spirit of national heroes and martyrs. Acts infringing their names, images, reputation or honor can also give rise to civil liability, and be subject to...
Protest, Law, and Regime Type
Different regimes face distinct political challenges and develop unique measures to manage political crises. Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan have different political systems: China is an authoritarian one party state practicing “democratic dictatorship“; Taiwan is a democracy that entrenches human rights protection and the separation of powers; Hong Kong, as an SAR of China,...
Populism and losing constitutional democracy
Populism is now a major global force, challenging our vision of constitutionalism but not upending it completely. By reasserting the importance of a political community, populism in our era provides an important corrective to globalism. Drawing on a forthcoming book with Aziz Huq, this paper argues that populism can fit in the framework of liberal...