'Imitation and its Discontents: Democratic Malaise in Post-Communist Europe' - International Forum for Democratic Studies, National Endowment for Democracy (NED), Washington DC, USA, 5 November 2018

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About the event

The reasons for the failure of democracy to take hold in Russia and for its current backsliding in Central Europe are complex, but one important and often neglected factor is what Ivan Krastev (in a July 2018 article in the Journal of Democracy) has called “Imitation and Its Discontents.” Following the collapse of communism, the countries in the region faced both internal and external pressure to “imitate the West” by adopting many of its democratic institutions and norms. Despite the advantages this may have brought, it also has generated feelings of a loss of sovereignty and ushered in a period of growing malaise. As global authoritarian forces continue to rise, even the once seemingly consolidated democracies of Central Europe appear to be turning away from “Western” values of liberalism and embracing their own notion of “the real Europe.” Ivan Krastev will analyze this shift, explaining why illiberal and anti-Western sentiments continue to rise. He will also discuss how democratic forces can respond to these vexing challenges.

'Constitutional Resilience - How Can a Democratic Constitution Survive an Autocratic Majority?' - WZB Berlin, 13-14 November 2018

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13 - 14 November 2018

Constitutional Resilience

How Can a Democratic Constitution Survive an Autocratic Majority?

Authoritarianism has been undergoing a reinvention in recent years. It no longer attacks democracy and the rule of law up front but instead tries to adopt the language and even (at least nominally) the institutions of democratic constitutionalism to promote its autocratic aims from within.

'Constitutionalism and Constitutional Design in Democratic Recession' - SPSA Annual Conference, Belgrade, Serbia, 23-24 September 2018

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Application deadline: 1 July 2018

Constitutions were seen as a crucial component of democratization and conflict regulation in the last few decades. As a result, related studies in normative political theory, constitutional law, comparative politics and democratisation studies grew substantially. And yet, global democratic recession, which have confronted old and new democracies in the last few years, raises important questions about the role of constitutionalism and constitutional design in the new context.

'The Shrinking Democratic Space – with Gillian Triggs and Sharon Abraham-Weiss' - Melbourne, 25 November 2018

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In Israel and Australia, civil society and human rights voices are under attack. A backlash against the very idea of democracy is evident as governments adopt more repressive measures to curb individual rights and silence critical voices. Join former Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs and executive director of Israel’s largest human rights organisation, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), Sharon Abraham-Weiss, to delve into these disturbing trends in both Israel and Australia.

Asser Institute Annual Lecture 2018: 'International law and the far right: Reflections on law and cynicism' - Peace Palace, The Hague, the Netherlands, 29 November 2018

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The fourth Annual T.M.C. Asser lecture will be delivered by Prof. Martti Koskenniemi on 29 November at the Peace Palace. In his lecture, Prof. Koskenniemi will address the role of international law in dealing with the rising far right, as the backlash against global rule and the international institutions of the liberal 1990s continues. Here is an abstract by Prof. Koskenniemi giving a glimpse of the topic:

Conference - 'Democratic Failure' - Boston University School of Law, USA, 28 September 2018

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Democratic Failure

We invite you to attend a conference on Democratic Failure to be held at Boston University School of Law on Friday, September 28.

For some time, discourse about democracy in the United States and around the world has been marked by concerns about dysfunction, extreme partisanship, and deadlock. More recently, this discourse has taken a darker, even apocalyptic turn, to talk about crisis, failure, or death. What is democratic failure? Does it presuppose a conception of democratic success and of the preconditions for success? How does democratic failure differ from or relate to other political or constitutional maladies, such as dysfunction, crisis, or rot? How might a democracy fail? How might it be saved?

Workshop: 'The State of Liberal Democracy in Central and Eastern Europe' - Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary, 6 December 2018

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Application deadline: 25 November 2018

The state of liberal democracy in Central and Eastern Europe. Workshop on the I·CONnect-Clough Center 2017 Global Review of Constitutional Law

The state of liberal democracy in Central and Eastern Europe

Workshop on the I·CONnect-Clough Center 2017 Global Review of Constitutional Law

'Democratic Backsliding and Human Rights' - College of Law and Business, Tel Aviv, Israel, 2-3 January 2019

This event is invitation-only.

A web site will be created in due course, where the drafts of the papers will be posted.

The workshop will explore the phenomenon of democratic backsliding from theoretical and comparative perspectives. We will discuss instances of democratic backsliding across the globe and raise questions such as what is democratic backsliding?

Conference - 'The Future of Liberal Democracy' - University of Texas, Austin, USA, 21-23 February 2019

Liberal democracy is under attack in many countries across the globe. It is under stress in several others. And in those countries where liberal democracy remains strong, political actors are bracing for what may come. On February 21-23, 2019, my faculty colleague Sandy Levinson and I will convene a major international conference on The Future of Liberal Democracy here at The University of Texas at Austin. Our program will gather 30 outstanding scholars from around the world to diagnose what ails liberal democracy and also to debate what can be done to save it.

Early Career Researchers Workshop: 'Political Parties, Partisanship, and the Constitution' - Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, Oxford University, UK, 14-15 March 2019

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Application deadline: 11 January 2019

The Bonavero Institute of Human Rights calls for papers for a workshop for early career-researchers on the topic of Political Parties, Partisanship, and the Constitution, with the generous support of the Programme for the Foundations of Law and Constitutional Government to be held on March 14-15, 2019 in Oxford, United Kingdom.

RECONNECT Panel Debate: 'How to Tackle Rule of Law Backsliding in the EU?' - InfoPoint Europa - Schuman, Brussels, Belgium, 20 March 2019

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There have been important developments and decisions taken in the past few months with respect to the rule of law in the European Union (EU). This includes, for example, the European Commission's proposal on the protection of the Union's budget in case of generalised deficiencies as regards the rule of law, which would bring conditionalities within the upcoming Multiannual Financial Framework, and the recent vote in the European Parliament (EP) to link EU funds to rule of law. The EP also initiated greater scrutiny over Hungary's attempts to undermine democratic institutions, while the European Commission initiated an Article 7 proceeding against Poland.

Colloquium: 'The Other ‘Transitology’: Pathways into and out of Authoritarianism in the Twenty-First Century - Empirical and Normative Perspectives'  - Princeton, USA, 29-30 March 2019

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A colloquium organized under the auspices of the “Constitutionalism under Stress” Project, co-sponsored by Princeton University and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin. 

The topic is “The Other ‘Transitology’: Pathways into and out of Authoritarianism in the Twenty-First Century – Empirical and Normative Perspectives.”

ESIL IG on International Organisations: ‘An Ambivalent Engagement: International Organisations and the Rule of Law’ - Göttingen, Germany, 3 April 2019

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Application Deadline: 23 November 2018

The ESIL Interest Group on International Organisations is organising an IG event on the occasion of the ESIL Research Forum in Göttingen.

The IG event will be on Wednesday 3 April 2019, and the topic is ‘An Ambivalent Engagement: International Organisations and the Rule of Law’.

All ESIL members are invited to submit a paper for the event.