Publication details
Krize právního konstitucionalismu a hledání alternativ
| Title in English | The Crisis of Legal Constitutionalism and the Quest for Alternatives |
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| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2019 |
| Type | Chapter of a book |
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| Citation | |
| Description | The fourth chapter by Jiří Baroš examines in detail the claim that the crisis of liberal democracy has been brought about by excessive preoccupation with the legal dimension of democracies; the main target of criticism has come to be known as legal constitutionalism. Beside popular sovereignty, constitutionalism is the other grounding principle of contemporary democracies, and the question naturally arises whether their relationship is one of mutual reinforcement or rather of conflict. Baroš argues that the much-criticised legal constitutionalism is in fact an internally diverse current, which puts the sweeping generalisations made by its detractors into stark relief. He then presents two main alternatives to legal constitutionalism, both of which share emphasis on more extensive political participation (including decisions on constitutional-level questions) and the importance of representative institutions. While political constitutionalism, drawing explicitly on republican political thought, ultimately amounts in Baroš’s eyes to a refurbished version of parliamentary sovereignty, democratic constitutionalism, indebted heavily to the radical democratic tradition, finds it difficult to resolve the problem of ensuring adequate guarantees for human rights and achieving the common good. Not least, it finds itself under the pressure of populism which has been spreading across liberal democracies. |
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