Frankenberg, Gunter --- "Authoritarian constitutionalism: coming to terms with modernitys nightmares" [2019] ELECD 1152; in Alviar Garcia, Helena; Frankenberg, Gunter (eds), "Authoritarian Constitutionalism" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) 1

Book Title: Authoritarian Constitutionalism

Editor(s): Alviar García, Helena; Frankenberg, Günter

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section: Chapter 1

Section Title: Authoritarian constitutionalism: coming to terms with modernitys nightmares

Author(s): Frankenberg, Günter

Number of pages: 36

Abstract/Description:

The chapter introduces and analyses authoritarian constitutionalism as an important phenomenon in its own right, not merely a deficient or deviant version of liberal constitutionalism. It is therefore not adequate to dismiss it as a sham or windowdressing. Instead, its crucial features – executivist technique of governing, participation as complicity, power as property and the cult of immediacy – are related to the basic assumption that authoritarian constitutions are texts with a purpose that warrant careful analysis by the domestic and transnational audience.