Prehistory of populist constitutionalism: Difference between revisions

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<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>[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>
==Eleftherios Venizelos==
==Eleftherios Venizelos==
It has been rightly observed that Greece "''has been recurrently susceptible to populist appeals, the figures of Eleftherios Venizelos and Andreas Papandreou towering over twentieth-century Greek history''".<ref>Paul Kenny, ''Why Populism?: Political Strategy from Ancient Greece to the Present'', Cambridge University Press, 2023, p. 187.</ref> Venizelos' statesmanship "''could by no stretch of the imagination be equated with the attitude and mentality of latter-day populist politicians''"; however, these politicians "''appear similarly consumed by politics, but lack Venizelos' moral understanding of the character of public life''".<ref>Paschalis M. Kitromilides, ''Venizelos' Intellectual Projects and Cultural Interests'', in Paschalis M. Kitromilides, ''Eleftherios Venizelos: The Trials of Statesmanship'', Edinburgh University Press, 2006, p. 377.</ref> In this vein, Venizelos can be seen as a principled populist, i.e. as a man who understands that politics is the realm of opinion and not of truth.<ref>Cf. Arendt</ref>.<br>
It has been rightly observed that Greece “''has been recurrently susceptible to populist appeals, the figures of Eleftherios Venizelos and Andreas Papandreou towering over twentieth-century Greek history''”.<ref>Paul Kenny, ''Why Populism?: Political Strategy from Ancient Greece to the Present'', Cambridge University Press, 2023, p. 187.</ref> Venizelos' statesmanship “''could by no stretch of the imagination be equated with the attitude and mentality of latter-day populist politicians''”; however, these politicians “''appear similarly consumed by politics, but lack Venizelos' moral understanding of the character of public life''”.<ref>Paschalis M. Kitromilides, ''Venizelos' Intellectual Projects and Cultural Interests'', in Paschalis M. Kitromilides, ''Eleftherios Venizelos: The Trials of Statesmanship'', Edinburgh University Press, 2006, p. 377.</ref> In this vein, Venizelos can be seen as a principled populist, i.e. as a man who understands that politics is the realm of opinion and not of truth.<ref>Cf. Arendt</ref>.<br>


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:
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:
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