Authoritarian Constitutionalism: Comparative Analysis and Critique

The contributions to this book analyse and submit to critique authoritarian constitutionalism as an important phenomenon in its own right, not merely as a deviant of liberal constitutionalism. Accordingly, the fourteen studies cover a variety of authoritarian regimes from Hungary to Apartheid South Africa, from China to Venezuela; from Syria to Argentina, and discuss the renaissance of authoritarian agendas and movements, such as populism, Trumpism, nationalism and xenophobia. From different theoretical perspectives the authors elucidate how authoritarian power is constituted, exercised and transferred in the different configurations of popular participation, economic imperatives, and imaginary community. Authoritarian Constitutionalism is of great interest to teachers, scholars and students of comparative constitutional law, comparative politics, and legal and political theory.

Contents: Preface Gunter Frankenberg, Norman Spaulding, Helena Alviar Garcia 1. Authoritarian Constitutionalism - Coming to terms with modernity's nightmares Gunter Frankenberg 2. Neoliberalism as a form of Authoritarian Constitutionalism Helena Alviar Garcia 3. Authoritarian Constitutionalism: The South African Experience Dennis M. Davis 4. Infrastructural Power and its Possibilities for the Constitutional Evolution of Authoritarian Political Systems: Lessons from China Michael W. Dowdle 5. Authoritarian Constitutionalism in the Islamic World-Theoretical Considerations and Comparative Observations on Syria and Turkey Omar El Manfalouty 6. Authoritarian Constitutionalism in Latin America: From Past to Present Roberto Gargarella 7. Authoritarianism and the Narrative Power of Constitutionalism in Venezuela Jorge Gonzalez-Jacome 8. Authoritarian Constitutionalism in Liberal Democracies Duncan Kennedy 9. French Authoritarian Constitutionalism and its Legacy Eugenie Merieau 10. Plus ca change ...the riddle of all Central Asian constitutions Scott Newton 11. Constitution of False Prophecies: The Illiberal Transformation of Hungary Maximilian Pichl 12. States of Authoritarianism in Liberal Democratic Regimes Norman W. Spaulding 13. Arab Constitutionalism and the Formalism of Authoritarian Constitutionalism Nimer Sultany 14. Authoritarian Liberalism as Authoritarian Constitutionalism Michael A. Wilkinson 15. An Authoritization of Japanese Constitutionalism? Hajime Yamamoto Index