Hardback
Authoritarian Constitutionalism
Comparative Analysis and Critique
9781788117845 Edward Elgar Publishing
The contributions to this book analyse and submit to critique authoritarian constitutionalism as an important phenomenon in its own right, not merely as a deviant of liberal constitutionalism. Accordingly, the fourteen studies cover a variety of authoritarian regimes from Hungary to Apartheid South Africa, from China to Venezuela; from Syria to Argentina, and discuss the renaissance of authoritarian agendas and movements, such as populism, Trumpism, nationalism and xenophobia. From different theoretical perspectives the authors elucidate how authoritarian power is constituted, exercised and transferred in the different configurations of popular participation, economic imperatives, and imaginary community.
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Critical Acclaim
Contributors
Contents
More Information
The contributions to this book analyse and submit to critique authoritarian constitutionalism as an important phenomenon in its own right, not merely as a deviant of liberal constitutionalism.
Accordingly, the fourteen studies cover a variety of authoritarian regimes from Hungary to Apartheid South Africa, from China to Venezuela; from Syria to Argentina, and discuss the renaissance of authoritarian agendas and movements, such as populism, Trumpism, nationalism and xenophobia. From different theoretical perspectives the authors elucidate how authoritarian power is constituted, exercised and transferred in the different configurations of popular participation, economic imperatives, and imaginary community.
Authoritarian Constitutionalism is of great interest to teachers, scholars and students of comparative constitutional law, comparative politics, and legal and political theory.
Accordingly, the fourteen studies cover a variety of authoritarian regimes from Hungary to Apartheid South Africa, from China to Venezuela; from Syria to Argentina, and discuss the renaissance of authoritarian agendas and movements, such as populism, Trumpism, nationalism and xenophobia. From different theoretical perspectives the authors elucidate how authoritarian power is constituted, exercised and transferred in the different configurations of popular participation, economic imperatives, and imaginary community.
Authoritarian Constitutionalism is of great interest to teachers, scholars and students of comparative constitutional law, comparative politics, and legal and political theory.
Critical Acclaim
‘The terms “authoritarian constitutionalism” may appear contradictory; but as this rich and far-reaching collection of essays demonstrates it is a widespread phenomenon which must be taken seriously at a time when democracy is under threat worldwide. This superb collection serves variously as an introduction to the topic, a penetrating theoretical and jurisprudential analysis, a new lens from which to view important debates about issues such as nationhood and inequality, and a global examination of the varying forms of authoritarian constitutionalism. It also sheds uncomfortable light on what we take to be exemplary, liberal and democratic constitutionalism. The result is the elaboration of an illuminating framework with which to study global and comparative constitutionalism.’
– Tony Anghie, National University of Singapore and University of Utah, US
‘What if the liberal belief in a Constitution as safeguard and backbone of a democratic, inclusive and egalitarian society turned out to be wrong? The contributors to this extremely well-curated volume provide challenging evidence of the myriad ways in which constitutional texts and practices can and in fact do facilitate, endorse and empower authoritarianism. Calling for a critical reevaluation of liberal constitutionalism, this analysis – from Colombia to the US, Hungary to South Africa, Egypt to Singapore and Japan – is more than just an annotation at the margins of a self-involved, European script of “global constitutionalism”. It emphasizes the need and value of connecting comparative constitutionalist local ethnographies in “the North“, “the South”, the “West“ and “the East” with a thorough analysis of transnational regulatory dynamics,
– Peer Zumbansen, King’s College London, UK and Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Canada
– Tony Anghie, National University of Singapore and University of Utah, US
‘What if the liberal belief in a Constitution as safeguard and backbone of a democratic, inclusive and egalitarian society turned out to be wrong? The contributors to this extremely well-curated volume provide challenging evidence of the myriad ways in which constitutional texts and practices can and in fact do facilitate, endorse and empower authoritarianism. Calling for a critical reevaluation of liberal constitutionalism, this analysis – from Colombia to the US, Hungary to South Africa, Egypt to Singapore and Japan – is more than just an annotation at the margins of a self-involved, European script of “global constitutionalism”. It emphasizes the need and value of connecting comparative constitutionalist local ethnographies in “the North“, “the South”, the “West“ and “the East” with a thorough analysis of transnational regulatory dynamics,
– Peer Zumbansen, King’s College London, UK and Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Canada
Contributors
Contributors: H. Alviar García, D.M. Davis, M.W. Dowdle, O. El Manfalouty, G. Frankenberg, R. Gargarella, J. González-Jácome, D. Kennedy, E. Mérieau, S. Newton, M. Pichl, N.W. Spaulding, N. Sultany, M.A. Wilkinson, H. Yamamoto
Contents
Contents:
Preface
Günter Frankenberg, Norman Spaulding, Helena Alviar García
1. Authoritarian Constitutionalism – Coming to terms with modernity’s nightmares
Günter Frankenberg
2. Neoliberalism as a form of Authoritarian Constitutionalism
Helena Alviar García
3. Authoritarian Constitutionalism: The South African Experience
Dennis M. Davis
4. Infrastructural Power and its Possibilities for the Constitutional Evolution of Authoritarian Political Systems: Lessons from China
Michael W. Dowdle
5. Authoritarian Constitutionalism in the Islamic World-Theoretical Considerations and Comparative Observations on Syria and Turkey
Omar El Manfalouty
6. Authoritarian Constitutionalism in Latin America: From Past to Present
Roberto Gargarella
7. Authoritarianism and the Narrative Power of Constitutionalism in Venezuela
Jorge González-Jácome
8. Authoritarian Constitutionalism in Liberal Democracies
Duncan Kennedy
9. French Authoritarian Constitutionalism and its Legacy
Eugénie Mérieau
10. Plus ça change …the riddle of all Central Asian constitutions
Scott Newton
11. Constitution of False Prophecies: The Illiberal Transformation of Hungary
Maximilian Pichl
12. States of Authoritarianism in Liberal Democratic Regimes
Norman W. Spaulding
13. Arab Constitutionalism and the Formalism of Authoritarian Constitutionalism
Nimer Sultany
14. Authoritarian Liberalism as Authoritarian Constitutionalism
Michael A. Wilkinson
15. An Authoritization of Japanese Constitutionalism?
Hajime Yamamoto
Index
Preface
Günter Frankenberg, Norman Spaulding, Helena Alviar García
1. Authoritarian Constitutionalism – Coming to terms with modernity’s nightmares
Günter Frankenberg
2. Neoliberalism as a form of Authoritarian Constitutionalism
Helena Alviar García
3. Authoritarian Constitutionalism: The South African Experience
Dennis M. Davis
4. Infrastructural Power and its Possibilities for the Constitutional Evolution of Authoritarian Political Systems: Lessons from China
Michael W. Dowdle
5. Authoritarian Constitutionalism in the Islamic World-Theoretical Considerations and Comparative Observations on Syria and Turkey
Omar El Manfalouty
6. Authoritarian Constitutionalism in Latin America: From Past to Present
Roberto Gargarella
7. Authoritarianism and the Narrative Power of Constitutionalism in Venezuela
Jorge González-Jácome
8. Authoritarian Constitutionalism in Liberal Democracies
Duncan Kennedy
9. French Authoritarian Constitutionalism and its Legacy
Eugénie Mérieau
10. Plus ça change …the riddle of all Central Asian constitutions
Scott Newton
11. Constitution of False Prophecies: The Illiberal Transformation of Hungary
Maximilian Pichl
12. States of Authoritarianism in Liberal Democratic Regimes
Norman W. Spaulding
13. Arab Constitutionalism and the Formalism of Authoritarian Constitutionalism
Nimer Sultany
14. Authoritarian Liberalism as Authoritarian Constitutionalism
Michael A. Wilkinson
15. An Authoritization of Japanese Constitutionalism?
Hajime Yamamoto
Index
