28 March 2026
The Playbook of Repression
India is the world’s largest democracy. It is also increasingly a democracy that is eating itself from within. Under the Bharatiya Janata Party governments of Narendra Modi, now in their third consecutive term, the formal architecture of democratic governance remains intact: elections are held, courts sit, and newspapers continue to be published. This post is an attempt to make sense of what is happening. Continue reading >>
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18 March 2026
Losing Liberal Democracy
On March 17th, the Swedish-based Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Institute released its 2026 annual Democracy Report. “The speed with which American democracy is currently dismantled is unprecedented in modern history,” the report writes. What is happening within our institutions now must be viewed in tandem with V-Dem’s assessment to understand how we have lost our liberal democracy and are presently at risk of capitulating further. Continue reading >>
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13 February 2026
Drawing Red Lines
Lately, there has been much talk of “red lines” in German politics. Take, for instance, the recent recommendations of the conservative think tank Republik21 on how to deal with the so-called “New Right”, according to which the “Brandmauer” policy of strict exclusion of the AfD should be replaced with differentiated red lines. CDU and CSU should in future determine their course on the basis of what is “constitutionally permissible” and what is “politically capable of commanding consent”. In other words: the question of what counts as a red line when forming majorities with the AfD, where it runs and what it separates from what, is, according to R21, something conservatives should answer by looking into the Basic Law – or into the mirror. Can that work? Continue reading >>
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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