European Constitutional Pluralism in face of Democratic Backsliding. Towards pluralistic legitimization of external review of constitutional amendments in EU Member States
Aleksandra’s research project focuses on correlations between constitutional pluralism and democratic backsliding in Member States leading to the abusive constitutionalism. Constitutional pluralism is definitely one of the theoretical concepts that form the foundations of the European Constitutionalism. Despite its success, the theory has often been criticized for its lack of normative prescriptions and legal certainty in resolving the question of the final arbiter in the EU, and more recently for having destructive consequences in times of illiberal democracy, new populism and abusive constitutionalism. Nevertheless, the project is based on the antithetical hypothesis that the constitutional pluralism remains the best basis for the theory of European constitutionalism. It concentrates on perspectives for using normative arguments from both the European Union law and the constitutional law of other Member States to supranationally and transnationally anchor the concept of restrained constitutive power. The particular emphasis is put on phenomenon of abusive constitutionalism defined by D. Landau as using the tools of constitutional amendment and replacement by would-be autocrats to undermine democracy with relative ease. The research offers thus an alternative look at the European constitutionalism based on constitutional pluralism and claims that it can constitute a form of self-imposed external constitutional discipline on national democracies.
