March 7, 2017

The workshop is organized jointly by the European University Institute and the Finnish Academy research project Constitutionalism Reconfigurd (CORE). This workshop will pay special attention to the antagonistic relationship between populist politics and constitutionalism. The overall question that we will try to answer is what kind of legal mechanisms, strategies and arguments constitutions and constitutionalism provide to counter the rise of populism and the risk of authoritarianism. To what extent can resistance be based on existing institutions such as courts? Or should we refresh old theories such as militant democracy or constitutional patriotism?