29 November 2022
Conflating the Powers of the Commissarial and the Sovereign Dictator in Tunisia
On July 25, 2022, a year after Tunisian President Kais Saied declared a state of emergency and with only 28 percent of eligible voters participating, Tunisia ratified its new Constitution. Saied’s use of wide emergency powers to help sideline parliamentary opposition and support the constitution-making process, contradicts the underlying rational that emergency powers are needed in democratic states to defend the existing constitutional order against urgent and exceptional threats to the state. To preclude the potential misuse of emergency powers a state’s constitution should be designed to prevent the entity exercising emergency powers from simultaneously claiming that they represent the ‘broad popular will’ of the people. Continue reading >>
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27 September 2022
No Institutional Upheaval in Sight in Italy
Will the new right-wing government in Italy under Giorgia Meloni attack the constitutional institutions? The program of the coalition and the numbers in Parliament both make that seem rather unlikely. Continue reading >>
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31 August 2022
Win or Lose, Chile’s Draft Constitution Heralds a New Era of Climate Constitutionalism
On September 4, Chileans will vote on whether to adopt a new constitution. It is a deeply contested election. Polls show that the yes vote is trailing by roughly 10% points, but with over 15% of voters still undecided, as of last week. The debate over the new text has centered on questions of the balance of powers, the autonomy of indigenous people, and the participation of the private sector in the provision of social security, health, and education. But one of the most innovative features of the text is not getting enough attention domestically – its deep engagement with environmentalism, and with climate change in particular. Continue reading >>24 August 2022
The Constitution of What?
On 4 September, the Chilean people will vote on whether a draft constitution, the result of the work of a Constitutional Convention, will replace the current constitution, which dates back to Pinochet’s dictatorship. Chile’s constituent process, one might think, will thus soon be over. The future is less clear. The draft can be understood as as an exercise of social self-constitution. Its feasibility, however, seems to depend on accommodating social pluralism with the opposed logic of the realm of politics and its permanent dynamic of generating a unity that speaks with one voice. Continue reading >>
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20 Juli 2022
The Government versus the President
A few days ago, the Georgian government filed a constitutional complaint against the President of Georgia to the Constitutional Court. Many in Georgia, and not only in Georgia, think that the government is trying to curtail the powers of the president and punish the president for her pro-European political activities. What is interesting in this context is how strong the government's legal positions really are. Continue reading >>20 Juni 2022
How the Philippines Could Overcome Its Deep Mistrust of Constitutional Reform
The Philippines has had three constitutions. Despite numerous attempts, the 1987 Constitution has not been amended since its ratification. Initiatives to change a constitution, and moves of resistance, are part and parcel of a constitutional democracy. Actually, the Philippines finds itself in a fortunate position, because the failure of past attempts at amending the 1987 Constitution can offer valuable lessons. Continue reading >>
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11 April 2022
How to Overcome an Anti-democratic Heritage
Chile and Turkey appear to be more similar than one would initially imagine. In both countries, neoliberal policies were implemented through constitutions made under the shadow of military dictatorships. For the last half-century, the development of democratic culture in both countries was undermined by military coups and military governments using anti-democratic methods. However, in late 2019, Chile has taken off from its old path to become a more democratic state that rests on social justice and gender equality by generating a new constitution through intense popular participation and equal political representation. Continue reading >>
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29 März 2022
Two Heads, One Crisis
The President of the Chamber of Deputies has just authorized the creation of a working group to discuss the possibility of adopting a semi-presidential system of government in Brazil. With the successive political crises since the promulgation of the constitution culminating in two successful impeachments, a growing number of voices are expressing support for the adoption of a semi-presidential system. It is unlikely, however, that such reform will bring political stability by itself. Continue reading >>10 Juni 2021
Constitutional Triumph or Constitutional Aberration?
The Kenyan Hight Court's incorporation of the basic structure doctrine into the Kenyan constitutional framework has been generally received as a cause for celebration among constitutional scholars. This article, however, calls for some restraint in the growing scholarly celebration of efforts to expand the basic structure doctrine. Continue reading >>
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29 April 2021