06 October 2026
A Politician Withdrawn in Eliminationist Times
Last Thursday, nine justices of Israel’s Supreme Court, under President Yitzhak Amit, heard appeals against the Central Elections Committee. This body, made up of party delegates, had barred two Arab lists from the Knesset election of 27 October 2026. Within the current Israeli context, the judges’ words spoken in that room constituted a form of state violence that must be recognized as such. The Court exercised coercive authority through an informal, reasonless indication of its intended judgment, producing the effects of a judgment while avoiding the legal constraints attached to one. Continue reading >>
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20 February 2024
Who’s Afraid of Militant Democracy, U.S. Style
Yesterday, Professor Samuel Issacharoff asked “Can it really be that one public official in Maine can remove a national presidential candidate on her say-so?” Professor Issacharoff and I, as well as every proponent of disqualification I know of, agree on a basic point. Right-wing populist authoritarianism cannot be defeated by legal decree. Government by the people cannot be maintained by means other than government by the people. Disqualifying individual candidates who resort to violence when they lose the vote, however, does not raise the difficulties that concern Professor Issacharoff and are consistent with democratic rule. Continue reading >>
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