New Politics of Decisionism

1 Introduction 1
Violeta Beširević
1.1 What Brings Schmitt to the Title of the Book 1
1.1.1 Schmitt’s Decisionism (the Theory of Sovereignty) 2
1.1.2 New Politics of Decisionism 5
1.2 Outline of the Volume 7

Part I The Current Rise of Populism: Deconstructing Issues

2 Democracy’s Deficits 13
Samuel Issacharoff
2.1 Introduction 13
2.2 Participation: Failing Political Parties 15
2.3 Deliberation: The Weakness of Legislative Branches 21
2.4 Solidarity: The Threats to Social Cohesion 25
2.5 Getting It Done 32
2.6 Conclusion 34

3 Populism – A Notion Rising above Its Content 37
Tibor Várady
3.1 Some Introductory Remarks Concerning the Use of the Term ‘Populism’ 37
3.2 An Attempt to Find Some Foothold in Legal Practice 39
3.3 What Is the Opposite of Populism? 44
3.4 What Is Actually Getting Condemned by the Label ‘Populism’? 47
3.5 Discovery or Simply Denouncement 50

4 Reflections on the Nature of Populism and the Fragility of Democracy:
Democracy in Crisis 53
David M. Rasmussen
4.1 Introduction 53
4.2 What Is Populism? An Historical Perspective 54
4.3 What Is Populism? A Normative Perspective 56
4.4 The Fragility of Democracy 59

5 Populism and Nationalism 61
Nenad Miščević
5.1 Introduction 61
5.2 Nationalists of All Countries Unite! 63
5.2.1 Introductory Remarks 63
5.2.2 Patriotism 66
5.2.2.1 The Low-Profile Patriotism 67
5.2.2.2 The High-Profile Patriotism 67
5.2.3 Classical Strong Ethnic Nationalism (Nativism) 68
5.2.4 Moderate Statist Nationalism 71
5.2.5 Liberal Nationalism 74
5.2.6 Communitarianism and ‘Transnational Nationalism’ 75
5.2.7 Cosmopolitanism 78
5.3 The Curious Case of Croatia 80
5.3.1 Approaches and Disagreements 80
5.3.2 Some Populist Actors 82
5.3.3 The Riddle: Why Croatia Does Not Have a Strong Right-Wing Populist Party 83
5.4 Conclusion: A New Playground 87

Part II Comparative Populism: Case Studies

6 Beyond ‘Illiberal Democracy’: The Case of Hungary 93
András Bozóki
6.1 Introduction 93
6.2 Why ‘Illiberal Democracy’ Is Not Democracy 94
6.3 Hungarian ‘Exceptionalism’ 98
6.4 Conclusions 104

7 Populism, Free Speech and the Anti-Entrenchment Principle 107
Adam Shinar
7.1 Introduction 107
7.2 Israel and the Protection of Speech 108
7.3 The Regulation of Speech Resources in Israel – Public Funding of Private Expression 112
7.4 The Anti-Entrenchment Principle 115
7.4.1 The Difficulty with the Existing Legal Framework 115
7.4.2 State and Government 116
7.4.3 The Anti-Entrenchment Principle 118
7.4.4 How to Apply the Anti-Entrenchment Principle? 122
7.5 Conclusion 124

8 Transforming Populism – From Protest Vote to Ruling Ideology: The Case of Serbia 125
Dušan Spasojević
8.1 Introduction 125
8.2 Ideational Understanding of Populism 127
8.3 The Case of Serbian Progressive Party: Once Radical and Now Progressive – Is It the Same Populism? 129
8.3.1 Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) – The Opposition Phase 129
8.3.2 Incumbent Populism – How Does It Work? 133
8.4 Concluding Remarks 137

Part III Courts Under the Populist Challenge

9 Poland: From Paradigm to Pariah? Facts and Interpretations of Polish
Constitutional Crisis 141
Marcin Matczak
9.1 Introduction 141
9.2 Facts 142
9.2.1 The First Stage 142
9.2.2 The Second Stage 145
9.3 Interpretations 149
9.3.1 The Historical Explanation 149
9.3.2 The Legal Explanation 152
9.3.3 The Sociological Explanation 156
9.4 Conclusion 159

10 Populism and the Turkish Constitutional Court: From a Game Broker to a Strategic Compromiser 161
Bertil Emrah Oder
10.1 Introduction 161
10.2 The Constitutional Court in High-Profile Cases and Populism: The Game Broker 163
10.3 The Constitutional Court’s Judicial Populism and Popularity 165
10.4 The Fragile Popularity of the Court: Strategically Supportive and Defiant Stances after the Coup Attempt in 2016 167
10.4.1 Constitutional Review of Emergency Decrees 168
10.4.2 Journalism Cases as a Judicial Battle Field 169
10.4.3 Criminal Law on Insulting the President of the State 174
10.5 Conclusion 175

11 Romania: From Constitutional Democracy to Constitutional Decay? 177
Simina Tanasescu
11.1 Introduction 177
11.2 On Populism and Constitutional Democracy 177
11.3 Romania: A Still Fragile Democratic Transition 181
11.4 Can Constitutional Adjudication Become an Instrument of Judicial Populism? 184
11.4.1 Deriding Fundamental Rights 185
11.4.2 Disdaining Checks and Balances 186
11.5 Concluding Remarks 190

12 If Schmitt Were Alive…Adjusting Constitutional Review to Populist Rule in Serbia 193
Violeta Beširević
12.1 Introduction 193
12.2 A Note on Transition in Serbia 195
12.3 A Silent Feature of the Constitutional Court 197
12.4 Constitutional Court in Populist Politics 198
12.4.1 Constitutional Review of Kosovo’s Knot: If Schmitt Were Alive… 200
12.4.2 Judicial Endorsement of ‘Discriminatory Legalism’ 202
12.4.3 Rights Adjudication: What Stands behind the Court’s Assertiveness 204
12.5 Conclusion 206