26 September 2022
The Brazilian Federal Supreme Court’s Reaction to Bolsonaro
It is a relatively uncontroversial opinion that the Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has undermined the rule of law and its constitutional institutions. This contribution concentrates on the Brazilian apex courts to show how a mix of resilience in day-to-day work and a few confrontational positions played an important role in safeguarding the autonomy and independence of the judicial branch in Brazil during Jair Bolsonaro’s term. Continue reading >>
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23 September 2022
Pandora’s Box and Nostalgia
Especially over the last three years, people have been demonstrating on the streets of Brazilian cities, expressing their support of Jair Bolsonaro and even demanding the return of military rule. „I authorize“ (military intervention) is a now common cry among Bolsonaro’s sympathizers, often read on banners. Some of the demonstrators are more explicit and openly demand „Military intervention with Bolsonaro“. Why is this happening? Why are these citizens willing to give up their citizen rights not only in favour of a military dictatorship, but of a leader who apparently is capable of seducing, yes, hypnotising them in a way that no General-President during the military dictatorship could ever do? Continue reading >>
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22 September 2022
The Armed Forces and the Constitution in Brazil
The Armed Forces are back in power in Brazil. This time, differently from 1937 and 1964, it happened through elections. As one of the main supporting groups behind Jair Bolsonaro’s electoral victory in 2018, the military’s role in his government continued to grow. I argue that, firstly, the text addressing the military functions in the Constitution of 1988 repeats the same mistakes made by past Brazilian constitutions; and secondly, that the South American countries’ constitutional framework points out attractive alternative constitutional design options on the topic. Continue reading >>
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21 September 2022
Constitutionalism under Bolsonaro
On the eve of a fateful election that will determine whether the last four years have been a bad dream and a footnote in Brazil’s political history, or not, the legacy of Bolsonaro’s regime for constitutional law and constitutionalism is widely and expertly discussed. Despite all his rhetorical machismo, Bolsonaro has not governed as a classical autocrat: he was democratically elected and his subsequent administration always found itself between the rock of a fragmented, yet viscerally opportunistic legislature, and the hard place of a judiciary that - while not always unsympathetic to his program - has been primarily interested in safeguarding its autonomy and its (self-)assumed role as the last word on virtually everything. Continue reading >>
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21 September 2022
Right-Wing Populists and the Global Climate Agenda
The rise of right-wing populist leaders, governments and political parties around the world has impacted environmental policy in general and the climate agenda particularly. In this brief commentary, we aim to contribute to an emerging literature that studies the relation between far-right populist rhetoric and actions on climate change policy. The idea is to analyse whether Jair Bolsonaro brings new tactics to the playbook of autocratic leaders, and if so which types. While political dynamics in Hungary, Poland and the USA have all been studied to establish the links between populist politics and climate inaction, there is still room to broaden the view to countries of the Global South. Continue reading >>
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20 September 2022
Bolsonarism at the Ballot Box
If things go badly, the upcoming elections in Brazil may be the last ones for some time to come. Incumbent president Jair Bolsonaro threatens to use the Trump playbook to dispute a possible election loss, counting on the violent support of his highly mobilized followers and parts of the Brazilian military nostalgic for the military dictatorship. His contender, former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who initially refused to wear a bullet proof vest, has now taken wear one on his rallies. During his tenure, Bolsonaro has drawn on populist anti-establishment sentiments and authoritarian legacies to develop his own, peculiar brand of illiberal rule known as Bolsonarism. Our symposium discusses Bolsonarism at the ballot box from the perspective of comparative constitutional law. Continue reading >>
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20 June 2022
The Rule of Law in a Reign of Terror
India is witnessing a spate of housing demolition used as a tool to inflict extrajudicial punishment for dissent. Over the past few months, the bulldozer has emerged as a powerful metaphor for the brute force of the state and the endless machinations of Hindu supremacists to flatten any difference or diversity they encounter. Tempting as it is, to think of the recent demolitions as a shocking new development, in fact the bulldozer has always been a significant determinant of the contours of space in India. Continue reading >>19 May 2022
What Culture Wars Hide
The American Conservative Political Action Coalition (CPAC) is meeting in Budapest on 19-20 May. The meeting signals that US conservatives have chosen Hungary as proof of concept for the politics they want. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is proudly illiberal and proudly politically incorrect. Having won his fourth consecutive election in April with his largest parliamentary majority yet, Orbán demonstrates to American conservatives that his brand of politics can triumph. Continue reading >>05 May 2022
Constitutional Power Struggle in Brazil
On 20th April 2022, the Brazilian Supreme Court (STF) convicted Federal Deputy Daniel Lucio da Silveira to eight years and nine months imprisonment, based on his verbal attacks against the democratic rule of law, Supreme Court judges and other state institutions. The next day, President Bolsonaro issued a controversial decree granting pardon to the Deputy and ordering the immediate extinction of all the punishments imposed by the Supreme Court. Even though the constitutionality of the decree can be debated, the main discussion is a political, not a legal one. Continue reading >>
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15 December 2021
On Constitutional Transition out of Hybrid Regimes
In the context of hybrid regimes, where constitutional change is gradual, the search for a magical (if not revolutionary) ‘moment’ of constitutional reset is futile. Instead, constitutional scholarship is better off with envisioning a process of constitutional (re-)settlement through legally imperfect processes of trial and error. Continue reading >>
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