The Constitution of Illiberal Democracy as a Theory about Society

• Autorzy: András Sajó
• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

Relying on Grażyna Skąpska's theory of the constitution as a theory of the society, the paper considers the 'theory of the society' provided by the constitutions (public law) of illiberal political regimes, applying a sociolegal perspective. Illiberal democracies are understood as electorally endorsed regimes produced by populism. The present paper concentrates on EU member states, using Hungarian examples. The constitution is understood as a symbolic order with a vision of society that changes social and political realities. The paper argues that illiberal constitutions do not need to depart from mainstream liberal constitutions, notwithstanding the strong nationalist element. The constitutional reality is mostly sub-constitutional and it operates at the level of statutes. The emerging political structure is based on the primacy of the executive branch which in turn serves personalistic rule in the tradition of Weberian Caesarism. The rule is centralistic and creates and consolidates social, cultural and economic dependencies. Following Szelényi and Max Weber, this traditionalist, and therefore antiliberal society (or the selection of these social structures among competing formations by the political management of the society) is described in terms of neo-feudalism. The emerging social relations are reflected in and enabled by public law. The illiberalism of the regimes is not imposed on society and it is greeted as liberation by a considerable part. This genuine sentiment, together with electoral and media manipulation is capable to sustain the illiberal personalistic regime through formally democratic processes. (original abstract)

Słowa kluczowe

EN

Constitution; Illiberal democracy; Society

PL

Konstytucja; Demokracja nieliberalna; Społeczeństwo

• Czasopismo: Polish Sociological Review
• Rocznik: 2019
• Numer: nr 4 (208)
• Strony: 395--412

Twórcy

autor

András Sajó

• Central European University

Bibliografia

• Adorno, T. W. 1972. Spätkapitalismus oder Industriegesellschaft? Einleitungsvortrag zum 16. Deutschen Soziologentag, in: Adorno, T. W., Soziologische Schriften I. Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp, pp. 354-370.
• Ágh A. et al. 2017. Sustainable Governance Indicators 2017. Hungary Report. Bertelsmann Stiftung.
• Baehr, P. 2008. Caesarism, Charisma and Fate. New Brunswick-London: Transaction Publishers.
• Butler, J. 2016. "We The People". Thoughts on Freedom of Assembly, in: A. Badiou, P. Bourdieu, J. Butler, G. Didi-Huberman, S. Khiari, and J. Rancière (Eds.), What Is a People? Translated by J. Gladding. New York: Columbia University Press, pp. 49-64.
• Casper, G. 2007. Moving towards an American Caesar. https://medium.com/freeman-spogli-institute-forinternational-studies/moving-toward-an-american-caesar-e241c32a7696 (Accessed 28 August 2018).
• Csillag, T., Szelenyi, I. 2015. Drifting from liberal democracy: Traditionalist/neo-conservative ideology of managed illiberal democratic capitalism in post-communist Europe, Intersections 1 (1): 18-48.
• Dela Torre, C. 2017. Populism in Latin America, in: C. R. Kaltwasser, P. Taggart, P. Ochoa Espejo, and P. Ostiguy (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Populism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 195.
• Eurostat, 2018. Government employment in the EU stable since 2000. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/productseurostat-news/-/WDN-20170723-1?inheritRedirect=true.
• Fournier, T. 2018. From Rhetoric to Action: A Constitutional Analysis of Populism. EUI Department of Law Research Paper No. 2018/08, https://ssrn.com/abstract=3127403 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3127403 (Accessed 8 August 2018).
• Garcia-Serra, M. J. 2001. The "Enabling Law": The Demise of the Separation of Powers in Hugo Chavez's Venezuela, The University of Miami Inter-American Law Review 32 (2): 265-293.
• Habermas, J. 1962. The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere. Darrnstadt and Neuwied: Hermann Luchterhand Verlag.
• Inchauste, G., Karver, J. 2018. Fiscal Redistribution in the European Union. World Bank Report on the European Union. http://pubdocs.worldbank.org/en/632981520461235859/EU-IG-Report-Fiscal-Redistribution.pdf
• Jarábik, B. 2017. The results of a traditionalist turn: Hungary's democratic neo-feudalism. Available: http://visegradrevue.eu/the-results-of-a-traditionalist-turn-hungarys-democratic-neo-feudalism/ (Accessed 8 August 2018).
• Kaltwasser, C. R., Taggart, P. A., Espejo, P. O., Ostiguy, P. (Eds.). 2017. Oxford Handbook of Populism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Keller, T. 2010. The Position of Hungary on Worldwide Map of Human Values, Review of Sociology 20 (1): 27-51.
• Laclau, E. 2005. Populism: what's in a name?, in: F. Panizza (ed.), Populism and the Mirror of Democracy. London-New York: Verso, pp. 32-55.
• Lustig, N. 2018. Fiscal Policy, Income Redistribution and Poverty Reduction in Low and Middle Income Countries, in: N. Lustig (ed.), Commitment to Equity Handbook. Estimating the Impact of Fiscal Policy on Inequality and Poverty. Washington D.C.: Brookings Institution Press and New Orleans: CEQ Institute, Tulane University.
• Mouffe, C. 1993. The Return of the Political. London-New York: Verso.
• Mudde, K. 2018. When illiberal forces win, the answer is more-not less-democracy. Guardian 6 June, 2018. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jun/06/when-illiberal-forces-win-the-answeris-more-not-less-democracy (Accessed August 3, 2018.)
• Reich, C. 1964. The New Property, The Yale Law Journal 73 (5): 733-787.
• Sajó, A. 2012. Constitutional Sentiments. New Haven & London: Yale University Press.
• Shields, S. 2012. Opposing Neoliberalism? Poland's renewed populism and post-communist transition, Third World Quarterly 33 (2): 359-381.
• Skapska, G. 2010. The Constitution as a Theory of Society in the Society: A Reflection after Twenty Years of Democratic Changes in East Central Europe, in: A. Sajó, R. Uitz (Eds.), Constitutional Topography. Values and Constitutions. The Hague: Eleven International Publishing, pp. 95-122.
• Skapska, G. 2012. From Civil Society to Europe: A Sociological Study of Constitutionalism after Communism. Leiden-Boston: Brill.
• Thornhill, C. 2012. A Sociology of Constitutions: Constitutions and State Legitimacy in Historical-Sociological Perspective.Cambridge Studies in Law and Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Toranska, T. 1987. Oni: Poland's Stalin's Polish Puppets. London and Glasgow: William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd.
• Tóth, I.J., Hajdú, M. 2016. Intensity of Competition, Corruption Risks and Price Distortion in the Hungarian Public Procurement-2009-2016. Working Paper Series CRCB-WP/2017. 2.
• Unger, R.M., 1975. Knowledge and Politics. New York: The Free Press.
• Weber, M. 1968. Economy and Society. Edited by G. Roth, and C. Wittich. Los Angeles: University of California Press.
• Weber, M. 1918. Parliament und Regierung im neugeordneten Deutschland. München-Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot.
• Weyland, K. 2001. Clarifying a contested concept: Populism in the study of Latin American politics, Comparative Politics 34 (1): 1-22.

Identyfikatory

DOI

10.26412/psr208.01