Constitutional Democracy in Crisis?

Is the world facing a serious threat to the protection of constitutional democracy?

There is a genuine debate about the meaning of the various political events that have, for many scholars and observers, generated a feeling of deep foreboding about our collective futures all over the world. Do these events represent simply the normal ebb and flow of political possibilities, or do they instead portend a more permanent move away from constitutional democracy that had been thought triumphant after the demise of the Soviet Union in 1989?

Constitutional Democracy in Crisis? addresses these questions head-on: Are the forces weakening constitutional democracy around the world general or nation-specific? Why have some major democracies seemingly not experienced these problems? How can we as scholars and citizens think clearly about the ideas of "constitutional crisis" or "constitutional degeneration"? What are the impacts of forces such as globalization, immigration, income inequality, populism, nationalism, religious sectarianism?

Bringing together leading scholars to engage critically with the crises facing constitutional democracies in the 21st century, these essays diagnose the causes of the present afflictions in regimes, regions, and across the globe, believing at this stage that diagnosis is of central importance - as Abraham Lincoln said in his "House Divided" speech, "If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could then better judge what to do, and how to do it."

Mark A. Graber is University of Maryland Regents Professor at the Francis King Carey School of Law

Sanford Levinson is W. St. John Garwood and W. St. John Garwood, Jr., Centennial Chair in Law at the University of Texas Law School

Mark Tushnet is the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law at Harvard Law School

1. Mark A. Graber, Sanford Levinson, and Mark Tushnet "Constitutional Democracy in Crisis? Introduction"
Part I: Background
2. Jack M. Balkin, "Constitutional Crisis and Constitutional Rot"
3. Tom Ginsburg and Aziz Z. Huq, "Defining and Tracking the Trajectory of Liberal Constitutional Democracy"
4. Zachary Elkins, "Is the Sky Falling? Constitutional Crises in Historical Perspective"
5. Ellen Kennedy, "Constitutional Failure Revisited"
Part II: Countries and Regions
6. Jennifer Hochschild, "What's New? What's Next? Threats to the American Constitutional Order"
7. Eric A. Posner, "The Trump Presidency: A Constitutional Crisis in the United States?"
8. Richard Albert and Michael Pal, "The Democratic Resilience of the Canadian Constitution"
9. Ana Micaela Alterio and Roberto Niembro, "Constitutional Culture and Democracy in Mexico: A Critical View of the 100-Year-Old Mexican Constitution"
10. David E. Landau, "Constitution-Making and Authoritarianism in Venezuela: The First Time as Tragedy, the Second as Farce"
11. Roberto Gargarella, "Latin America: Constitutions in Trouble"
12. Erin F. Delaney, "Brexit Optimism and British Constitutional Renewal"
13. Nicolas Roussellier, "France and the Fifth Republic: Constitutional Crisis or Political Malaise?"
14. Victor Ferreres Comella, "Constitutional Crisis in Spain: The Catalan Secessionist Challenge"
15. Gábor Halmai, "A Coup Against Constitutional Democracy: The Case of Hungary"
16. Wojciech Sadurski, "Constitutional Crisis in Poland"
17. Michaela Hailbronner, "Beyond Legitimacy: Europe's Crisis of Constitutional Democracy"
18. Heinz Klug, "State Capture or Institutional Resilience: Is there a Crisis of Constitutional Democracy in South Africa"
19. James Thuo Gathii, "Three Types of Constitutional Crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa"
20. Ozan O. Varol, "Stealth Authoritarianism in Turkey"
21. Yaniv Roznai, "Israel: A Crisis of Liberal Democracy?"
22. Manoj Mate, "Constitutional Erosion and the Challenge to Secular Democracy in India"
23. Rosalind Dixon and Anika Gauja, "Australia's Non-Populist Democracy? The Role of Structure and Policy"
24. David Law and Chien-Chih Lin, "Constitutional Inertia in Asia"
Part III: Factors
25. Samuel Issacharoff, "Populism versus Democratic Governance"
26. Desmond King and Rogers M. Smith, "Populism, Racism, and the Rule of Law in Constitutional Democracies Today"
27. T. Alexander Aleinikoff, "Inherent Instability: Immigration and Constitutional Democracies"
28. Kim Lane Scheppele, "The Party's Over"
29. Ran Hirschl and Ayelet Shachar, "'Religious Talk' in Narratives of Membership"
30. Ganesh Sitaraman, "Economic Inequality and Constitutional Democracy"
31. David Schneiderman, "Disabling Constitutional Capacity: Global Economic Law and Democratic Decline"
32. Sujit Choudhry, "Will Democracy Die in Darkness? Calling Autocracy by its Name"
33. Oren Gross, "The Normal Exception"
34. Robert V. Percival, "The Climate Crisis and Constitutional Democracies"
Part IV: Observations
35. J.H.H. Weiler, "The Crumbling of European Democracy"
36. Mark Tushnet, "Comparing Right-Wing and Left-Wing Populism"
37. Sanford Levinson, "The Continuing Specter of Popular Sovereignty and National Self-Determination in an Age of Political Uncertainty"
38. Mark A. Graber, "What's in Crisis? The Postwar Constitutional Paradigm, Tranformative Constitutionalism, and the Fate of Constitutional Democracy"
List of Contributors
Acknowledgments
Index
1. Constitutional Democracy in Crisis? Introduction, Mark A.Graber, Sanford Levinson, and Mark Tushnet
Part I: Background
2. Constitutional Crisis and Constitutional Rot, Jack M. Balkin
3. Defining and Tracking the Trajectory of Liberal Constitutional Democracy, Tom Ginsburg and Aziz Z. Huq
4. Is the Sky Falling? Constitutional Crises in Historical Perspective, Zachary Elkins
5. Constitutional Failure Revisited, Ellen Kennedy
Part II: Countries and Regions
6. What's New? What's Next? Threats to the American Constitutional Order, Jennifer Hochschild
7. The Trump Presidency: A Constitutional Crisis in the United States?, Eric A. Posner
8. The Democratic Resilience of the Canadian Constitution, Richard Albert and Michael Pal
9. Constitutional Culture and Democracy in Mexico: A Critical View of the 100-Year-Old Mexican Constitution, Ana Micaela Alterio and Roberto Niembro
10. Constitution-Making and Authoritarianism in Venezuela: The First Time as Tragedy, the Second as Farce, David E. Landau
11. Latin America: Constitutions in Trouble, Roberto Gargarella
12. Brexit Optimism and British Constitutional Renewal, Erin F. Delaney
13. France and the Fifth Republic: Constitutional Crisis or Political Malaise?, Nicolas Roussellier
14. Constitutional Crisis in Spain: The Catalan Secessionist Challenge, Victor Ferreres Comella
15. A Coup Against Constitutional Democracy: The Case of Hungary, Gábor Halmai
16. Constitutional Crisis in Poland, Wojciech Sadurski
17. Beyond Legitimacy: Europe's Crisis of Constitutional Democracy, Michaela Hailbronner
18. State Capture or Institutional Resilience: Is there a Crisis of Constitutional Democracy in South Africa, Heinz Klug
19. Three Types of Constitutional Crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa, James Thuo Gathii
20. Stealth Authoritarianism in Turkey, Ozan O. Varol
21. Israel: A Crisis of Liberal Democracy?, Yaniv Roznai
22. Constitutional Erosion and the Challenge to Secular Democracy in India, Manoj Mate
23. Australia's Non-Populist Democracy? The Role of Structure and Policy, Rosalind Dixon and Anika Gauja
24. Constitutional Inertia in Asia, David S. Law and Chien-Chih Lin
Part III: Factors
25. Populism versus Democratic Governance, Samuel Issacharoff
26. Populism, Racism, and the Rule of Law in Constitutional Democracies Today, Desmond King and Rogers M. Smith
27. Inherent Instability: Immigration and Constitutional Democracies, Alexander Aleinikoff
28. The Party's Over, Kim Lane Scheppele
29,. 'Religious Talk' in Narratives of Membership, Ran Hirschl and Ayelet Shachar
30. Economic Inequality and Constitutional Democracy, Ganesh Sitaraman
31. Disabling Constitutional Capacity: Global Economic Law and Democratic Decline, David Schneiderman
32. Will Democracy Die in Darkness? Calling Autocracy by its Name, Sujit Choudhry
33. The Normal Exception, Oren Gross
34. The Climate Crisis and Constitutional Democracies, Robert V. Percival
Part IV: Observations
35. The Crumbling of European Democracy, J.H.H. Weiler
36. Comparing Right-Wing and Left-Wing Populism, Mark Tushnet
37. The Continuing Specter of Popular Sovereignty and National Self-Determination in an Age of Political Uncertainty, Sanford Levinson
38. What's in Crisis? The Postwar Constitutional Paradigm, Tranformative Constitutionalism, and the Fate of Constitutional Democracy, Mark A. Graber
List of Contributors
Acknowledgments
Index