23 January 2026
Capital Punishment Revivalism
Israel has long been considered abolitionist, having executed only one individual in its history. While past attempts to reinstate the death penalty have proven unsuccessful, the horrendous scale of the October 7 attack and the ensuing traumatic war have been used to generate political momentum. A new bill, which passed its first reading in the Knesset in November 2025, would impose the death penalty for terrorism-related offenses. The bill should be understood as part of a broader capital punishment revivalism trend in populist regimes, with Israel potentially setting a dangerous precedent for attempts to reinstate the death penalty in Europe and beyond. Continue reading >>
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06 January 2026
Defending Democracy Against Itself
Five years ago today, Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol after his defeat in the 2020 election. Two years ago, in Trump v. Anderson, the U.S. Supreme Court kept Trump on the presidential ballot. What would the world look like if militant democracy had prevailed in the United States? Maybe not so different after all. Democracy is best defended not by banning its opponents, but by renewing popular support through participation, persuasion, and substantive reform. Continue reading >>
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18 November 2025
A Familiar Dynamic Full of Unknowns
This past Sunday, Chile held general elections. Sunday’s results and forecasts suggest that José Antonio Kast of the far-right Republicanos will become Chile’s next president in the run-off on December 14. With the country currently experiencing a drive towards political extremes and instability, Kast’s presidency could unfold in two directions: it might either produce a Bukele-like regime focused on law and order that would potentially do away with democracy and the rule of law; or it could face the rapid growth of popular opposition to his austerity plans, possibly in the form of street protests. Continue reading >>14 October 2025
The Hungarian Roadmap
The Hungarian play script of infringements on academic freedom under the Orbán-regime provides useful junctures on how academic freedom can be both captured and conceptualised. I speak from first-hand experience. As I have chronicled before, I was fired from one university for political reasons; laid off from another after it was forced into exile; and have been working at an institution that has been renamed five times, reorganised, and put under continuous existential pressure since 2010. Five years after the Lex CEU case, it is safe to say that academic freedom is systematically being violated in Hungary. Its roadmap has at least eight lessons to offer. Continue reading >>
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24 September 2025
Untying Ulysses From The Mast
The first months of the new President of the Republic of Poland’s term leave little room for doubt. Karol Nawrocki is not only planning to initiate the adoption of a new constitution by 2030 – he is already changing the current one, adopted in 1997. In light of this political declaration, one might ask: Why does Poland need a new constitution? But the question doesn’t end there. Regarding President Nawrocki’s proposed constitutional changes we must also ask: What kind of constitution does he have in mind, and what does he seek to achieve through the adoption of a new one? Continue reading >>
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21 September 2025
Falling Far and Fast
I have been studying and teaching First Amendment law for more than forty years, and in all that time I have been more or less confident that basic minima of freedom of speech would remain unscathed in the United States. It was the one constitutional right that inspired widespread allegiance and agreement. But this week, for the first time, I have become frightened that freedom of speech in America might actually be endangered. Authoritarianism, with its trademark suppression of free political discussion, looms on our horizon. Continue reading >>21 September 2025
The Judicial Overhaul Post October 7
In the span of one year, Israel experienced two historic crises: a constitutional crisis triggered by the 2023 judicial overhaul and a national security emergency following Hamas’ October 7 attack. Either event alone could have destabilized democratic institutions, yet their convergence deepened threats to Israel’s liberal democracy. Contrary to the expectations of many Israelis, the security crisis did not halt the judicial reform process. Instead, it served as a smokescreen that enabled the government’s continued pursuit of populist constitutional transformation. Continue reading >>22 August 2025
Trump’s Manufactured Emergencies
The Trump administration’s actions in Washington D.C. represent the continuation of interconnected political and rhetorical tactics that the president has used since his second inauguration that we should expect to see again and again – using misleading or downright fabricated information as the basis for declaring an emergency, relying on the fabricated emergency to invoke emergency legal authorities, and then relying on those authorities to take actions that exceed even the broad powers that such emergencies confer under the law. Looking ahead, we can expect the administration to run this same playbook in additional, predictable ways. Continue reading >>
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22 August 2025
Weaponising Disqualification
On August 20, 2025, the Indian Government introduced three constitutional amendment bills of massive implications in the Parliament. Together, the bills aim to establish a mandatory legal sanction providing that any minister can be removed from their ministerial office if arrested or detained for thirty consecutive days on charges carrying a potential sentence of five years or more. At first glance, the bills may seem laudatory, founded on the expectation of ethical standards for high constitutional office. Yet, one can clearly anticipate the gross impending misuse of this law towards establishing a hegemonic BJP rule in India. Continue reading >>
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08 August 2025
Anti-Feminism versus Abusive Feminism
Some of the world’s most powerful leaders have openly embraced an agenda that is overtly hostile to diversity, equity and inclusion, and often overtly anti-feminist. These discursive and behavioral attacks have been accompanied by a range of anti-feminist policy changes. As liberalism and democracy often erode together, it is no surprise that the growth of anti-feminism is associated with democratic backsliding. What is more surprising is that many of these anti-feminist, would-be autocrats have engaged in a parallel set of tactics that appear to endorse, rather than challenge, certain feminist ideas. Continue reading >>
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