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VIRTUAL EVENT: Democratic Constitutionalism under Attack: Peril & Promise of We The People
08 June 2021, 1:00 pm–2:00 pm
This Lunch Hour Lecture explores the unresolved place of ‘the people’ in democratic constitutionalism. Is the way forward more or less democracy?
This event is free.
Event Information
Open to
- All
Availability
- Yes
Cost
- Free
Organiser
-
Sandy Brummitt
This lecture explores the unresolved place of ‘the people’ in democratic constitutionalism. It examines two seemingly paradoxical developments. On the one hand, the erosion by populists and would-be autocrats of constitutional protections of the rule of law and individual rights, all in the name of a demos defined in majoritarian and exclusionary terms. Responses to these attacks often emphasise the need for legal retrenchment and reinforcing anti-majoritarian institutions. On the other hand, we find unabated the interest in direct popular involvement in processes of constitutional reform as seen in Iceland, Scotland, Ireland, and now Chile. They are meant to make the ‘we the people’ of democratic self-government a reality like never before. Both developments are framed as direct responses to the crisis (or crises) of democracy. This lecture will adopt a comparative perspective and ask: is the way forward to save our constitutional orders more or less democracy, and what kind of democracy do we mean?
About the Speaker
Dr Silvia Suteu
Lecturer in Public Law at UCL
Dr Silvia Suteu is a Lecturer in Public Law at UCL Laws working in the areas of comparative constitutional law and constitutional theory. Her research focuses on the theory and practice of constitutional change, with a special focus on democratic innovations and gender equality. Her work on participatory constitutional reform processes has been published widely and has informed the constitutional assistance efforts of organisations such as the European Union, UN Women, the OSCE, Democracy Reporting International, the Euromed Feminist Initiative, International IDEA, and the Westminster Foundation for Democracy. Her monograph Eternity Clauses in Democratic Constitutionalism came out with Oxford University Press in May 2021.
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