Populism vs. constitutionalism? Comparative perspectives on contemporary Western Europe, Latin America, and the United States

Report

In this policy brief, Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser takes a comparative approach to challenge the conventional wisdom that populism, by virtue of its ambivalent relationship with constitutionalism, represents a threat to democracy.

Rather than condemning outright populist actors, Rovira Kaltwasser advocates a more nuanced approach, arguing that, instead of portraying populists as anti-democrats, we should emphasize the importance of pluralism, as well as institutional checks and balances, in order to defend a conception of liberal democracy.

He illustrates his argument with examples across three continents, charting the rise of anti-immigration radical Right parties in Western Europe in the aftermath of 9/11, the anti-democratic constitution-making of Latin American leftist leaders such as Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, and the influence of the Tea Party in the US following President Obama's succession of George W. Bush.

Authors: Rovira Kaltwasser, C

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Foundation for Law, Justice and Society
• Series: The social and political foundations of constitutions
• Place of publication: http://www.fljs.org/content/social-and-political-foundations-constitutions-publications
• Publication date: 2013-01-01
• Edition: Publisher's version
• Language: English
• Keywords: United States; Europe; Constitutional law; Comparative government; Populism; Latin America; Democracy
• Subjects: European democracies; International studies; Political science; Latin America; American politics; Constitutional & administrative law