Prehistory of populist constitutionalism: Difference between revisions
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Long before the coining of the terms '''populist constitutionalism''', '''popular constitutionalism''', and '''constitutional populism''', jurists as well as political actors and thinkers had already explored the ideas and policies that are usually associated with this concept: criticism of the separation of law and politics, anti-elitism, anti-institutionalism (anti-establisment), anti-pluralism, illiberalism, popular sovereignty, direct democracy, authentic popular representation, extreme majoritarianism, strong leadership, personification of power, strengthening of executive power, instrumentalization of law.<ref>See Zoltán Szente, [https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003148944-2 ''Populism and populist constitutionalism''], in Fruzsina Gárdos-Orosz and Zoltán Szente, [https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003148944 ''Populist Challenges to Constitutional Interpretation in Europe and Beyond''], Routledge, 2021, pp. 16-29.</ref>
==Aristotle==
If
How different is a present-day right-wing populist from Cleon, “''the most violent man at Athens''”,<ref>
<br>
Of course, the Philosopher himself exhibited populist tendencies occasionally. The following passage is revealing:
<blockquote>''μᾶλλον ἀδιάφθορον τὸ πολύ - καθάπερ ὕδωρ τὸ πλεῖον, οὕτω καὶ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ὀλίγων ἀδιαφθορώτερον.''<ref>Aristotle, ''Politics'', 1286a.</ref></blockquote>
Translation:
<blockquote>''The multitude is more incorruptible - just as the larger stream of water is purer, so the mass of citizens is less corruptible than the few.''<ref>Aristotle in 23 Volumes, Vol. 21, translated by H. Rackham, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1944.</ref></blockquote>
==Maximilien Robespierre==
The populist mindset of Robespierre is well-known. A more specifically constitutional manifestation of his populism can be found in his project for a ''Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen'' submitted to the National Convention in 1793:
<blockquote>Toute institution qui ne suppose pas le peuple bon, et le magistrat corruptible, est vicieuse.<ref>[https://books.google.gr/books?id=S2S_mw9LMdUC&pg=PA10 Société des Amis de la Liberté et de l'Egalité, ''Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen présentée par Maximilien Robespierre'', Imprimerie patriotique et républicaine, Paris, 1793, p. 10 (article XXX).]</ref></blockquote>
Translation:
<blockquote>Every institution which does not suppose the people good and the magistrate corruptible, is wrong.<ref>The translation is by the author.</ref></blockquote>
==Alexis de Tocqueville==
Tocqueville devoted his life to studying American democracy. Describing populist constitutionalism in this new-born republic was among his main achievements. One of his keenest observations is the following:
<blockquote>''[L]e pouvoir judiciaire de l'Union [...] retarde, il ne saurait arrêter le peuple puisque celui-ci peut en changeant la constitution arriver toujours à ce qu'il désire.''<ref>Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America. Historical-Critical Edition of De la démocratie en Amérique, ed. Eduardo Nolla, Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2010, p. 167 (note b).</ref></blockquote>
Translation:
<blockquote>''[T]he judicial power [...] slows, it cannot stop the people, because the latter by changing the constitution can always arrive at what they desire.''<ref>Alexis de Tocqueville, ''Democracy in America. Historical-Critical Edition of De la démocratie en Amérique'', ed. Eduardo Nolla, Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2010, p. 167 (note b).</ref></blockquote>
==Theodore Roosevelt==
Theodore Roosevelt has been conventionally thought of as a vehement opponent of populism, i.e. of United States People's Party. Nevertheless, labels aside, the 26th President of the United States did not shy away from expressing populist views in constitutional matters. For example, in a famous speech delivered in 1912 and recorded by Thomas Edison, Roosevelt quipped:
<blockquote>[T]he majority of the plain people of the U.S. will, day in and day out, make fewer mistakes in governing themselves than any smaller class or body of men, no matter what their training, will make in trying to govern them.<ref>.</ref></blockquote>▼
▲<blockquote>
==Eleftherios Venizelos==
It has been rightly observed that Greece
Venizelos' populist constitutionalism is vividly illustrated in a debate with Senator Alexandros Mylonas. Mylonas suggested that the opinion of Alexandros Svolos, a prominent constitutional lawyer, outweighed that of a politician; Venizelos strongly disagreed:
<blockquote>''[Ε]ἶναι αἵρεσις νὰ λέτε μέσα εἰς ἕνα Πολιτικὸν Σῶμα ὅτι ὁ καθηγητὴς τοῦ Πανεπιστημίου ἠμπορεῖ νὰ ἔχῃ τὴν ἐγκυροτέραν γνώμην εἰς ἕνα ζήτημα ἀπὸ ὅλους.''<ref>''Εφημερίς των Συζητήσεων της Γερουσίας'', Σύνοδος Γ’ (1930-1931), Συνεδρίαση 40η [Gazette of the Greek Senate Debates, 3rd Meeting (1930-1931), 40th Session, 05.03.1931], pp. 461-462.</ref></blockquote>
Translation:
<blockquote>''It is heresy to say before a Political Body that the university professor can give the most authoritative opinion on an issue than everyone else.''<ref>The translation is by the author.</ref></blockquote>
He added:
<blockquote>''Θὰ ἐκύτταζα [...] νὰ καταργήσω τὴν ἕδραν τοῦ Συνταγματικοῦ Δικαίου διὰ νὰ ἀποτρέψω τὸν κίνδυνον [...] νὰ ἐξαρτᾶται ἡ πολιτικὴ ζωὴ τῆς Χώρας ἀπὸ τὴν γνώμην ἑνὸς καθηγητοῦ, σοφοῦ ὅσον θέλετε.''<ref>''Εφημερίς των Συζητήσεων της Γερουσίας'', Σύνοδος Γ’ (1930-1931), Συνεδρίαση 40η [Gazette of the Greek Senate Debates, 3rd Meeting (1930-1931), 40th Session, 05.03.1931], pp. 475-476.</ref></blockquote>
Translation:
<blockquote>''I would rather [...] abolish the chair of Constitutional Law in order to prevent the danger [...] of having the political life of the Country depending on the opinion of one professor, however wise he may be.''<ref>The translation is by the author.</ref></blockquote>
==Notes==
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