Thema: Autoritarismus & Populismus

Verfassungserosion, demokratischer Rückschritt, verfassungsrechtliche Herausforderungen demokratischer Regierungsführung, populistischer Konstitutionalismus und verfassungsrechtliche Antworten auf Autoritarismus. Umfasst wehrhafte Demokratie, verfassungsrechtliche Selbstverteidigung und verfassungsrechtliche Mechanismen gegen demokratische Erosion.

The Arrest of Istanbul’s Mayor is Textbook Lawfare

On March 19, 2025, police arrested Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu on corruption and terrorism charges. Four days later, on March 23, a judge ordered him to prison pending trial. İmamoğlu is not only the mayor of Istanbul, a position he has held by repeatedly defeating Erdoğan-backed candidates, but also widely regarded as the opposition’s most prominent and promising candidate to challenge Erdoğan in a presidential election. That is why the lawfare waged against him, culminating in his pre-trial detention, is broadly viewed as an attempt by the ruling party to eliminate Turkey’s rising opposition and further consolidate its one-party rule.

28. März 2025

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Sliding into Quasi-Fascism?

Many commentators label the second Trump administration authoritarian or right populist, but shun fascist as rhetorical overreach. They are currently correct. Such hesitation, however, is on less sure footing for those who prognosticate that the executive will attempt to construct a regime claiming the right to unchecked, continuing power. Substantial continuation of constitutional and democratic norms, which they assume, is far from guaranteed. I will explain why the Trump presidency already displays characteristics that render reasonably possible its morphing into a regime appropriately characterized as fascist or, at least, quasi-fascist.

20. März 2025

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A Power Grab Is Not a Constitutional Theory

Lawyers love legal theories. President Trump’s unprecedented executive actions have reignited interest in theories about the U.S. Constitution, especially conservative ones. Is he working with an extreme conception of the unified executive theory, a strong version of “originalist” or even “post-originalist” legal reasoning, or will the “political question doctrine” dominate? These debates are fascinating, but they strike me as pointless. Why? Because Trump’s supporters are not deploying them in good faith. Rather, these theories are being used as rhetorical maneuvers to dress up a power grab in theoretical garb.

24. Februar 2025

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From Democracy to Dynastic Rule?

On January 30, 2025, the National Assembly of Nicaragua approved a constitutional reform that significantly strengthens the power of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo. The amendments profoundly transform the country’s political system, reinforcing the Executive’s influence over other branches of the state. This analysis aims to trace the political evolution of Nicaragua in order to better understand how the constitutional framework of the state is changing now.

18. Februar 2025

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In Search of Honour

There is a presumption underlying the liberal democratic constitutional project that has been exposed by the Trump administration in its first weeks in office – that formal constitutional structures are all we need to protect against bad political actors. But our entire constitutional system hinges on the very basic idea of people in positions of power doing the right thing. Therefore, I will argue that the behavioural chink in the constitutional chain that needs to be re-discovered is honour. Honour possesses the cultural potency, political currency, and psychological impetuous we need to turn the tide on illiberalism.

18. Februar 2025

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Trump’s Straussian Shysters: The Scary Sequel

Nearly three years ago I wrote here about the far-right constitutional theory behind Trump lawyer John Eastman’s role in the inept yet deadly January 6, 2021 coup attempt against then President-elect Joe Biden. I described the idiosyncratic reworking by Eastman and other so-called west-coast Straussians at California’s Claremont Institute of the ideas of the German-Jewish refugee Leo Strauss, an imposing, deeply conservative political theorist, into an apology for an executive-directed counterrevolution aimed ostensibly at restoring the original US constitutional order. Little did I imagine that Strauss’ Claremont disciples would soon enjoy a political comeback, and that they would once again be wreaking constitutional havoc.

13. Februar 2025

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Transgender Rights at a Crossroads in the United States

In his first month in office, US President Donald Trump has issued a series of sweeping executive orders targeting transgender rights. These orders build on political terrain that is now exceedingly hostile to transgender rights. In this post, I briefly examine the landscape for transgender rights in the United States, analyze what President Trump’s executive orders on transgender rights aim to do, and then discuss the stakes of United States v. Skrmetti, the pending Supreme Court case that will likely set out the framework that federal courts will use in adjudicating transgender rights cases under the Trump administration and beyond.

13. Februar 2025

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Constitutionally Capturing Pakistan’s Constitutional Courts

In 2024, Pakistan’s parliament passed a constitutional amendment carrying out the most significant restructuring of Pakistan’s superior judiciary in its recent history. This judicial overhaul needs to be analyzed as part of a process of regime realignment. By regime realignment, I mean a ruling authoritarian elite radically altering its supportive political structure and popular bases to expand and extend its hold on power. Based on news sources and conversations with senior lawyers and judges, I will show that this plan for judicial overhaul developed iteratively through a process of intra- and inter-institutional dialogue and conflict that took place during regime realignment.

11. Februar 2025

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Trump und der neue Faschismus

Seit der Inauguration Trumps zum 47. US-Präsidenten zieht Elon Musk mit einem Gefolge aus Tech-Ingenieuren und Führungskräften seiner diversen Firmen durch die Bundesbehörden in Washington und verschafft sich Zugang zu Gebäuden, Daten und Computersystemen. In diesem Prozess positionieren sich Akteure der Big Tech Industrie als Profiteure und als Betreiber einer neuen, technologischen Regierungsinfrastruktur – eingeklinkt über die Zugänge zu Computer- und Bezahlsystemen, die Musk sich gerade verschafft. Diese Entwicklung stellt einen neuen Qualitätssprung im politischen Projekt Trumps dar. Sie ist am besten mit dem Wort Faschismus zu beschreiben.

9. Februar 2025

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