CSE Hosts Event on Constitutionalism in the Age of Populism
On May 24, 2021, the Center for the Study of Europe (CSE), an affiliated center of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, hosted an event titled “Constitutionalism in an Age of Populism.”
During the event, Bojan Bugaric, Professor of Law at Sheffield University and Associate Fellow, SPERI (Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute), and Mark Tushnet, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law, Emeritus, at Harvard Law School, discussed their forthcoming book Power to the People: Constitutionalism in an Age of Populism. Vivien Schmidt, Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration and Professor of International Relations and Political Science at the Pardee School, and Robert L. Tsai, Professor of Law at BU, provided comments.
Bugaric and Tushnet’s book challenges the notion that populism is ipso facto incompatible with modern liberal democracy. While acknowledging that some variants of populism are indeed incompatible with constitutionalism, they argue that the tension between populism and constitutionalism is narrower than much of the commentary suggests. Their analysis of populism in a variety of contexts reveals there are many populisms, and further, that sometimes populism helps to revivify democracy rather than undermine it.
A recording of the event can be viewed below.
The mission of the Center for the Study of Europe is to promote understanding of Europe through its cultural heritage; its political, economic, and religious histories; its art, literature, music, and philosophy; as well as through its recent emergence as a new kind of international form through the European Union (EU). Operationally, the center provides a focal point and institutional support for the study of Europe across Boston University through coordination of teaching missions, support of research, community-building among faculty and students, and outreach beyond the University. Visit the center’s website for more.