Articles for category: Focus

Populism and the Turkish Constitutional Court: the Game Broker, the Populist and the Popular

Populist strategies have for some time been an integral part of Turkish political life employed dominantly by the right wing political parties.((For populism as a discursive strategy in Turkey see Zafer Toprak, »Populism ve Türkiye’deki Boyutları«, Tarih ve Demokrasi (Istanbul: Cem Yayınevi, 1992), pp. 41-62; Reşat Kasaba, »Populism and Democracy in Turkey, 1946-1961«, Rules and Rights in the Middle East, edited by E. Goldberg et. al. (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1993), pp. 43-68; Erdoğan, Necmi, and Tanıl Bora, »‘Biz, Anadolu’nun Bağrı Yanık Çocukları … ›: Muhafazakar Popülizm«, Modern Türkiye’de Siyasi Düşünce, Cilt 5, Muhazafakarlık, edited by Tanıl Bora, and Murat Gültekingil, (İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 2006), pp. 632–644. For Turkey’s rightist parties ... continue reading

2. Mai 2017

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Populism and Judicial Backlash in the United States and Europe

Common criticisms of judicial activism stretch from the somewhat outdated but nonetheless repeatedly re-emerging argument of courts‹ »counter-majoritarian difficulty”((Alexander M. Bickel, The Least Dangerous Branch: The Supreme Court at the Bar of Politics 16 (1962).)) to the prevalence of disagreement in plural societies concerning the substance and scope of human rights.(( Richard Bellamy, »Rights as Democracy«, Critical Review of Social and Political Philosophy, 15: 4, (2012).)) Beyond conceptual attacks, however, it is increasingly common to find politicians across the Atlantic who attack courts for decisions with which they simply disagree. Especially the recent resurgence of right wing populism in the ... continue reading

30. April 2017

Safeguarding Democratic Institutions

A discussion of courts and populism begs for definitional boundaries.  While courts are generally institutionally confined, the same cannot be said for populism, a political moniker that risks confounding everything from the majoritarian core of democracy to the demagogic claims of tyrants in the making. As difficult as precise definition might be, it is clear that there is a shift in democratic politics.  The post-WW II political parties of Western Europe are in serious disrepair and the political tones in the Netherlands, France, Italy, Denmark, and other nations, are being defined by a politics of anger surging on the left ... continue reading

29. April 2017

Trapped in the Age of Trump: the American Supreme Court and 21st Century Populism

The American Supreme Court is currently ill-equipped to confront populism. The Court’s deficiency is not because of the political balance between justices nominated by Republican Presidents and those nominated by Democrat Presidents. It is a result of a deeper shift in the way the concept of judicial legitimacy is currently understood in the US. In this post I will briefly present this shift that I analyzed in length in a series of articles. The introduction of public opinion polling that measured public support for the Court meant that for the first time in American history, the elected representatives lost their ... continue reading

28. April 2017

Courts in a Populist World

»I did not come to in order to be loved but in order to voice the sentiments of the public,« said Minister Miri Regev. Meanwhile, an Opposition Member of Knesset exclaimed that »we are here because we reflect and represent the people.”((Haim Jelin, Yesh Atid (party), Knesset Session/Sitting (3 August 2016) (our translation; emphasis added).)) These statements are emblematic of the rise of populist politics. The populist rhetoric exhibited by Israeli politicians signals a new development in Israeli politics. I call this development public sentiment mirroring (or »mirroring« for short). Mirroring requires the state to replicate in its policies the ... continue reading

27. April 2017

Populist Constitutionalism and the Democratic Minimum Core

Democratic »populism« is on the rise worldwide. In the last decade, Latin America has seen a wave of populist, neo-Bolivarian political change; Hungary and Poland have seen the election of nationalist parties openly opposed to the European project; and a majority of voters in the UK have voted for Brexit.  In the US, for the first time since 1953, a candidate with no prior political experience has been elected President, and the Tea Party has continued to make inroads in controlling the Republican Party.  If recent trends continue, in countries such as France, there is also likely more change of ... continue reading

26. April 2017

Populism and the Courts

The antagonism of populist governments to apex courts is a matter of historical record, starting with Peronism, the first time that an openly populist movement established its own government. Currently, it is demonstrated by repeated conflicts between populist executive power and constitutional courts, and the often successful attempts of the former to pack and disempower the latter. Recent events in Venezuela, Israel, Hungary, Turkey and Poland indicate the attending harm to democratic government, and even these cases do not exhaust the present salience of the populist challenge that has now reached the United States. I believe that the way to ... continue reading

25. April 2017

Populist Constitutions – A Contradiction in Terms?

The meaning of »populism« is deeply contested.  It is striking, though, that many observers appear to agree on one point: whatever else it is, populism is inherently hostile to the mechanisms and, ultimately, the values commonly associated with constitutionalism: constraints on the will of the majority, checks and balances, protections for minorities, and even fundamental rights as such.  Populists are supposedly impatient with procedures; they are even said to be against »institutions« as such, preferring a direct, unmediated relationship between the personal leader and the people.  Connected with this supposed anti-institutionalism is the charge that populists dislike representation and opt ... continue reading

23. April 2017

Introduction: Constitutional Courts and Populism

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This mini-symposium is a joint project between the editors of the Verfassungsblog and the editors of I-Connect. We have brought together a number of prominent scholars, working on different issues, approaches, and regions of the world, and invite contributions by others, to tackle a pressing issue: the importance of populism for comparative constitutional law. Scholars of certain countries and regions, such as Latin America, have long been attuned to this issue. But recent events have made it a central concern for countries long thought relatively immune to its challenges, both in North America and Europe. The challenge of populism is ... continue reading

22. April 2017