Abstract
The central objective of the post-socialist European countries which are also Member States of the EU and Council of Europe, as proclaimed and enshrined in their constitutions before their official independence, is the establishment of a democracy based on the rule of law and effective legal protection of fundamental human rights and freedoms. In this article the author explains what, in his opinion, is the main problem and why these goals are still not sufficiently achieved: the ruthless simplification of the understanding of the social function and functioning of constitutional courts, which is narrow, rigid and holistically focused primarily or exclusively on the question of whether the judges of these courts are “left or right” in purely daily-political sense, and consequently, whether constitutional court decisions are taken (described, understood) as either “left or right” in purely and shallow daily-party-political sense/manner. With nothing else between and no other foundation. The author describes such rhetoric, this kind of superficial labeling/marking, such an approach towards constitutional law-making as a matter of unbearable and unthinking simplicity, and introduces the term A Populist Monster. The reasons that have led to the problem of this kind of populism and its devastating effects on the quality and development of constitutional democracy and the rule of law are analyzed clearly and critically.
References
Alec Stone Sweet: GOVERNING WITH JUDGES: CONSTITUTIONAL POLITICS IN EUROPE. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.10.1093/0198297718.003.0007Search in Google Scholar
Aleksander M. Bickel: The Least Dangerous Branch. New Heaven, London: Yale University Press, 1986.Search in Google Scholar
Aleksander M. Bickel: THE LEAST DANGEROUS BRANCH. New Heaven, London: Yale University Press, 1986Search in Google Scholar
Aljaž Vrabec: Interview with dr. Andraž Teršek: »STRAH IN TESNOBA NE SMETA POSTATI EPIDEMIJA” (Fear and anxiety must not become an epidemic). Delo, Carpe Diem. 28.6.2020. Available at: < https://www.delo.si/novice/slovenija/strah-in-tesnoba-ne-smeta-postatiepidemija-323815.html> (1.8.2020).Search in Google Scholar
Andraž Teršek: A CRITIQUE OF WRONG CONSTITUTIONAL TEACHING REGARDING THE CONCEPT OF “SOVEREIGNTY OF THE PEOPLE” AND THE PREVAILING MODEL OF CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACIES IN EUROPE. ECHRCASELAW.com, 18th of June 2020. Available at:Search in Google Scholar
Andraž Teršek: Če vse to samo teče, med levo in desno, kam bo steklo? (If all this just flows, between left and right, where will the glass go?). IUS INFO. 25.10.2019. Available at: <https://www.iusinfo.si/medijsko-sredisce/kolumne/251942> (2.8.2020).Search in Google Scholar
Andraž Teršek: DOMOVINSKOST IN DRŽAVNOST STA POGOJENI Z ZNANJEM IN SPOSOBNOSTMI (Eng.: »Homeland and statehood are conditioned by knowledge and abilities”). IUS INFO. 30. 8. 2019. Available at: <https://www.iusinfo.si/medijsko-sredisce/kolumne/248285> (full access)Search in Google Scholar
Andraž Teršek: ESEJ O »USTAVNI DEMOKRACIJI«; AND POST SCRIPTUM (Essay on Constitutional Democracy: and the post scriptum). IUS INFO. 26.6.2020. Available at: <https://www.iusinfo.si/medijsko-sredisce/kolumne/266528> (full access)Search in Google Scholar
Andraž Teršek: LIMITS OF CONSTITUTIONAL JUDICIAL SUPERVISION - THE POWERS OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT TO REVIEW ACTS OF CONSTITUTIONAL RANK. Proceedings of the Days of Slovenian Lawyers in Portorož, 8. - 9.10.2015. In Podjejte in delo journal, Vol. XLI, No. 6-7/2015, pp. 1358-1373.Search in Google Scholar
Andraž Teršek: ON “COUNTERMAJORITARIAN PROBLEM” OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT. Javna uprava (Public Administration Journal), No. 3/2017. Summary in English available at: <https://www.tax-fin-lex.si/Dokument/Predogled?rootEntityId=4dc6c237-0778-4b44-9373-4d7f233c1e7a&returnUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tax-fin-lex.si%2FDokument%2FPodrobnosti%3FrootEntityId%3D4dc6c237-0778-4b44-9373-4d7f233c1e7a>Search in Google Scholar
Andraž Teršek: SVOBODA JAVNEGA KOMUNICIRANJA (Freedom of Public Communication). In: Pičman Štefančič, P., Teršek, A.: Preludij demokracije: civilna družba in svoboda javnega komuniciranja (Preludim to Democracy: Civil Society and Freedom of Public Communication). Manet. Pravna fakulteta v Ljubljani, 2005.Search in Google Scholar
Andrej Kristan: ARGUMENTATIVE VS. INSTITUTIONAL LEGITIMACY OF AN INDIVIDUAL (CONSTITUTIONAL)COURT‘S DECISION: ON THE TENTH ANIVERSARY OF THE DECISION NO. U-I-12/97. REVUS - Journal for Constitutional Theory and Philosophy of Law. No. 7 (2008), pp. 51-86.10.4000/revus.902Search in Google Scholar
Andrej Kristan: Razumeti ustavo. Editorial. Revus. No. 23/2014, pp. 7-11.10.4000/revus.3114Search in Google Scholar
Andrej Kristan: V kakšnem smislu so dokončna sodne odločbe lahko pravno zmotne. REVUS. No. 28/2016, pp. 7-9.10.4000/revus.3548Search in Google Scholar
Andrew Peter: LOOK WHO’S TALKING NOW: DIALOGUE THEORY AND THE RETURN TO DEMOCRACY. In Richar W. Bauman, Tsvi Kahana: The Least Examined Branch. The Role of Legislatures in the Constitutional State. Cambridge University Press. Printed in the USA, 2006, pp. 519-531.10.1017/CBO9780511511035.028Search in Google Scholar
Annie Murphy Paul: THE CULT OF PERSONALITY TESTING: HOW PERSONALITY TESTS ARE LEADING US TO MISEDUCATE OUR CHILDREN, MISMANAGE OUR COMPANIES, AND MISUNDERSTAND OURSELVES. Free Press; Reprint edition, 2005.Search in Google Scholar
Aristotel: POLITIKA (Politics). GV založba, Ljubljana, 2010.Search in Google Scholar
Aristotle: POLITICS (Oxford World’s Classics). Oxford University Press (Reissue edition), 2009.Search in Google Scholar
Athena Staik: 12 WAYS NARCISSISTS OR SOCIOPATHS REVEAL A PATHOLOGICAL INTENT TO HARM. PsychCentral. 8.4.2020. Available at: <https://blogs.psychcentral.com/relationships/2018/08/how-a-narcissist-or-sociopath-reveal-himself/> (3.8.2020)Search in Google Scholar
Ben Kinchlow: BLACK YELLOWDOGS: THE MOST DANGEROUS CITIZEN IS NOT ARMED, BUT UNINFORMED. WND Books; First Edition, 2013.Search in Google Scholar
Bill Eddy: WHY WE ELECT NARCISSISTS AND SOCIOPATHS―AND HOW WE CAN STOP. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2019.Search in Google Scholar
Bojan Bugarič: A CRISIS OF CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY IN POST-COMMUNIST EUROPE: “LANDS IN-BETWEEN” DEMOCRACY AND AUTHORITARIANISM. International Journal of Constitutional Law, Vol. 13, No. 1, January 2015, pgs. 219–245.10.1093/icon/mov010Search in Google Scholar
Boštjan M. Zupančič: DRUGA OD SUHIH KRAV (The Other of Dry Cows). Self-publishing. Strasbourg, 2011.Search in Google Scholar
Branko Smerdel: CONVENTION ON THE FUTURE OF EUROPE AND THE PROCESS OF CONSTITUTIONAL CHOICES. REVUS, no. 1/2003.10.4000/revus.1417Search in Google Scholar
Branko Smerdel: NOVE DEMOKRACIJE IN USTAVNIŠTVO (New Democracies and Constitutionalism). Teorija in praksa, no. 9–10/1993.Search in Google Scholar
Bruce Ackerman: WE THE PEOPLE 1: FOUNDATIONS. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Cambridge, Massachusetts, London. 1998.Search in Google Scholar
Bryan Caplan: THE MYTH OF THE RATIONAL VOTER: WHY DEMOCRACIES CHOOSE BAD POLICIES. Princeton University Press; Revised edition, 2008.10.1515/9781400828821Search in Google Scholar
Cameron Reilly: THE PSYCHOPATH EPIDEMIC: WHY THE WORLD IS SO F*CKED UP AND WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT. Kindle Edition. Health Communications Inc. EB. First edition, 2020.Search in Google Scholar
Charles Derber: PEOPLE BEFORE PROFIT: THE NEW GLOBALIZATION IN AN AGE OF TERROR, BIG MONEY, AND ECONOMIC CRISIS. (Foreword by Noam Chomsky. Kindle Edition. St. Martin‘s Press. First edition, 2003.Search in Google Scholar
Cialdini Robert B.: VPLIVANJE (Influence). UMco, Ljubljana, 2015Search in Google Scholar
Ciril Ribičič: ČLOVEKOVE PRAVICE IN USTAVNA DEMOKRACIJA(»Human Rights and Constitutional Democracy«). Beletrina. Ljubljana. 2010.Search in Google Scholar
Constitutional Court Act. Available at: < https://www.us-rs.si/legal-basis/statutes/?lang=en> (4.8.2020)Search in Google Scholar
Cristina Redondo: A legal order’s supreme legislative authorities. Revus. No. 29/2016, pp. 33-66.10.4000/revus.3600Search in Google Scholar
Daniel Gilbert: STUMBLING ON HAPPINESS. Vintage, 2007.Search in Google Scholar
David Graeber: UTOPIJA PRAVIL (»Utopia Rules«). Beletrina, Ljubljana, 2017Search in Google Scholar
David S. Heidler, Jeanne T. Heidler: THE RISE OF ANDREW JACKSON. MYTH, MANIPULATION, AND THE MAKING OF MODERN POLITICS. Basic Books, 2018. See alsoSearch in Google Scholar
Diego M. Papayannis: Independence, impartiality and neutrality in legal adjudication. Revus. No. 28/2016, pp. 33-53.10.4000/revus.3546Search in Google Scholar
Donald P. Kommers: THE CONSTITUTIONAL JURISPRUDENCE OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1997.Search in Google Scholar
Drank Dikötter: HOW TO BE A DICTATOR: THE CULT OF PERSONALITY IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019.Search in Google Scholar
Duhigg Charles: MOČ NAVADE (The Poer of a Habit). UMco, Ljubljana, 2015.Search in Google Scholar
ECHRCASELAW.com. Available at: <https://www.echrcaselaw.com/en/constitutional-democracy/a-critique-of-wrong-constitutional-teaching-regarding-the-concept-of-sovereignty-of-the-people-and-the-prevailing-model-of-constitutional-democracies-in-europe/>Search in Google Scholar
Ed Yong: HOW PSYCHOPATHS SEE THE WORLD. IT’S NOT THAT THEY CAN’T CONSIDER OTHER PEOPLE’S PERSPECTIVES. IT’S THAT THEY DON’T DO SO AUTOMATICALLY. The Atlantic. 12.3.2018. Available at: <https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/03/a-hidden-problem-at-the-heart-of-psychopathy/555335/> (3.8.2020).Search in Google Scholar
Eliane Glaser: ANTI-POLITICS: ON THE DEMONIZATION OF IDEOLOGY, AUTHORITY AND THE STATE. Repeater, 2018.Search in Google Scholar
Franc Testen: THE BINDING FORCE OF THE DECISIONS OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT OF SLOVENIA. Conference of the Venice Commission. Tirana, 28th – 29th of April 2003.Search in Google Scholar
Frank Benjamin: YOU KNOW YOU’RE A REPUBLICAN/DEMOCRAT IF . . .. Sourcebooks, 3rd Edition, 2016.Search in Google Scholar
Frank Dikötter: HOW TO BE A DICTATOR: THE CULT OF PERSONALITY IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019.Search in Google Scholar
Gary Dorrien: SOCIAL DEMOCRACY IN THE MAKING: POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS ROOTS OF EUROPEAN SOCIALISM. Yale University Press, 201910.12987/9780300244991Search in Google Scholar
Gary Halpin & Chris Carter: THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS: INTRODUCTION TO VOTING IN AMERICA. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2011.Search in Google Scholar
Glenn Greenwalt: Should the Populist Left Work with the Populist Right Where They Have Common Ground, or Shun Them? The Intercept. 25.6.2020. Available at: < https://theintercept.com/2020/06/25/should-the-populist-left-work-with-the-populist-right-where-they-have-common-ground-or-shun-them/> (2.8.2020)Search in Google Scholar
Hannah Arendt: MED PRETEKLOSTJO IN PRIHODNOSTJO. ŠEST VAJ V POLITIČNEM MIŠLJENJU (»Between the past and the future. Six exercises in political thinking”). Krtina, Ljubljana, 2006.Search in Google Scholar
Hannah Arendt: THE ORIGINS OF TOTALITARIANISM. Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich; First Edition, 1973Search in Google Scholar
Hannah Arendt: VITA ACTIVA. Krtina, Ljubljana, 1986.10.3406/grif.1986.1686Search in Google Scholar
Harry Arthurs: VOX POPULI: POPULISM, THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS, AND THE CANADIAN CONSTITUTION. In Richard W. Bauman & Tsvi Khana: The Least Examined Branch. The Role of Legislatures in the Constitutional State. Cambridge University Press. Printed in the USA, 2006, pp. 155-179.10.1017/CBO9780511511035.010Search in Google Scholar
Immanuel Wallerstein: THE UNCERTAINTIES OF KNOWLEDGE. Philadelphia, USA: Temple University Press, 2014.Search in Google Scholar
Janos Kornai (ed.): BUILDING A TRUSTWORTHY STATE IN POST-SOCIALIST TRANSITION (Political Evolution and Institutional Change). Palgrave Macmillan, 200410.1057/9781403981103Search in Google Scholar
Jan-Werner Muller: WHAT IS POPULISM? University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016.Search in Google Scholar
Jernej Letnar Černič: KAKO RAZVOZLATI GORDIJSKI VOZEL PRI REŠEVANJU USTAVNIH PRITOŽB? (How to unravel the Gordian knot in resolving constitutional complaints?). IUS INFO. 5.6.2020. Available at: <https://www.iusinfo.si/medijsko-sredisce/kolumne/265355> (3.8.2020).Search in Google Scholar
Jernej Letnar Černič: PREOBRAT V PRAKSI USTAVNEGA SODIŠČA? (A reversal in the practice of the Constitutional Court?). IUS INFO. 27.5.2016. Available at: https://www.iusinfo.si/medijsko-sredisce/kolumne/170409> (2.8.2020)Search in Google Scholar
Jon Ronson: THE PSYCHOPATH TEST: A JOURNEY THROUGH THE MADNESS INDUSTRY. Riverhead Books, 2012Search in Google Scholar
Jonathan Haidt: THE RIGHTEOUS MIND: WHY GOOD PEOPLE ARE DIVIDED BY POLITICS AND RELIGION. Penguin, 2013Search in Google Scholar
Julie L. Hall: NARCISSIST IN YOUR LIFE. Kindle Edition. Da Capo Lifelong Books, 2019Search in Google Scholar
Kashmir Hill: USING TWITTER TO IDENTIFY PSYCHOPATHS. Forbes. 20.7.2012. Available at: <https://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/07/20/using-twitter-to-help-expose-psychopaths/#13912af5d846> (3.8.2020)Search in Google Scholar
Kenneth Einar Himma: Conceptual Jurisprudence. An Introduction to Conceptual Analysis and Methodology in Legal Theory. Revus, No. 26/2015, pp. 65-92.Search in Google Scholar
Klemen Jaklič: CONSTITUTIONAL PLURALISM IN THE EU. Oxford University Press, 2014.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198703228.001.0001Search in Google Scholar
Krystal Ball, Saagar Enjeti: THE POPULIST’S GUIDE TO 2020: A NEW RIGHT AND NEW LEFT ARE RISING. Strong Arm Press, 2020.Search in Google Scholar
Larry Alexander: CONSTITUTIONALISM. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.Search in Google Scholar
Le Bon Gustave: PSIHOLOGIJA MNOŽIC (Psichology of Masses). UMco, Ljubljana, 2016.Search in Google Scholar
Leo Panitch, Sam Gindin: THE SOCIALIST CHALLENGE TODAY: SYRIZA, CORBYN, SANDERS – REVISED. Updated and Expanded Edition. The Merlin Press Ltd., 2019.Search in Google Scholar
Lorena Ramirez Lidena: Legal disagreements, A pluralist reply to Dworkin‘s cgallenge. Revus. No. 28/2016, pp. 11-32.10.4000/revus.3345Search in Google Scholar
Lovro Šturm (ed.) KOMENTAR USTAVE REPUBLIKE SLOVENIJE (Commentary on the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia). FPDEŠ. Ljubljana (2002).Search in Google Scholar
Luka Burazin: Posredno in neposredno vrednjujuća teorija prava. Odgovor Julie Dickson. Revus. No. 20/2013, pp. 35-45.10.4000/revus.2581Search in Google Scholar
Maartje de Visser: CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW IN EUROPE: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS (European and National Constitutional Law Series). Hart Publishing, 2015.Search in Google Scholar
Michel Foucault: VEDNOST - OBLAST – SUBJEKT (Knowledge - authority – subject). Založba Krtina, Ljubljana, 2019.Search in Google Scholar
Michel Rosenfeld: CONSTITUTIONAL ADJUDICATION IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE. THE EUROPEAN MODEL AS AGAINST THE AMERICAN IN TERMS OF POLITICAL LAW AND INTERPRETATION. Conference on Constitutional Law. Washington. 2002.Search in Google Scholar
Mitchel Lasser: ANTICIPATING THREE MODELS OF JUDICIAL CONTROL, DEBATE AND LEGITIMACY: THE EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE, THE COUR DE CASSATION AND THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT. Jean Monnet Working Paper No. 1. New York: NYU School of Law, 2003.Search in Google Scholar
Mladen Dolar: OČITNO SMO NEOLIBERALIZEM PRIPRAVLJENI KUPITI – Z NASMEŠKOM BRATUŠKOVE ALI MIRA CERARJA (Eng.: „Obviously we are ready to buy neoliberalism - with a smile from Bratuškova or Miro Cerar”). Mladina. 31st of December 2012. Available at: https://www.mladina.si/163249/dr-mladen-dolar/ (full access)Search in Google Scholar
Noam Chomsky: 9-11: Was There an Alternative? Open Media Book. Seven Stories Press; Updated, Expanded, Anniversary edition, 2011Search in Google Scholar
Noam Chomsky: Profit Over People: Neoliberalism & Global Order. Seven Stories Press, 1999.Search in Google Scholar
Alvaro Nunez Vaquero: Five Models of Legal Science. Revus. No. 19/2013, pp. 53-81.10.4000/revus.2449Search in Google Scholar
Owen Jones: The left needs a new populism fast. It’s clear what happens if we fail. The Guardian. 10.11.2016. Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/nov/10/the-left-needs-a-new-populism-fast> (2.8.2020)Search in Google Scholar
P. T. Elliott: THE SOCIOPATH’S GUIDE TO GETTING AHEAD: TIPS FOR THE DARK ART OF MANIPULATION. Kindle Edition. Skyhorse, 2018Search in Google Scholar
Paul Keaveny: In defence of left-wing populism. The Conversation. 29.4.2016: Available at: < https://theconversation.com/in-defence-of-left-wing-populism-55869> (2.8.2020)Search in Google Scholar
Peter Jambrek (ed.): METODOLOGIJA ZNANSTVENEGA RAZISKOVANJA (Methodology of Scientific Research). Nova univerza, Nova Gorica, 2020.Search in Google Scholar
Peter Jambrek: Nation’s Transitions. Evropska Pravna fakulteta, Ljubljana (2015a).Search in Google Scholar
Peter Jambrek: USTAVA IN SVOBODA (Constitution and Freedom). Evropska Pravna fakulteta (2015)Search in Google Scholar
Peter Jambrek: USTAVNA DEMOKRACIJA; GRADITEV SLOVENSKE DEMOKRACIJE, DRŽAVE IN USTAVE (Constitutional Democracy; building Slovenian Democracy, the State and the Constitution). Državna založba Slovenije, Ljubljana (1992)Search in Google Scholar
Richard W. Bauman & Tsvi Kahana: THE LEAST EXAMINED BRANCH. THE ROLE OF LEGISLATURES IN THE CONSTITUTIONAL STATE. Cambridge University Press, printed in the USA, 2006.10.1017/CBO9780511511035Search in Google Scholar
Richard W. Bauman & Tsvi Kahana: THE LEAST EXAMINED BRANCH. THE ROLE OF LEGISLATURES IN THE CONSTITUTIONAL STATE. Cambridge University Press, printed in the USA, 2006.10.1017/CBO9780511511035Search in Google Scholar
Slavoj Žižek: ŽIVLJENJE V ČASU KONCA (Living in the End Times). Cankarjeva založba. Ljubljana (2012)Search in Google Scholar
Teršek Andraž, Toplak Jurij: KJE V SLOVENIJI SODIŠČA KRŠIJO USTAVNE PRAVICE - KRŠITVE USTAVNIH PRAVIC PO OBMOČJIH VIŠJIH SODIŠČ (Where in Slovenia do courts violate constitutional rights - violations of constitutional rights in the areas of higher courts). Pravna praksa, no. 30-31/2017. 24.8.2017Search in Google Scholar
Tonči Kuzmanić: USTVARJANJE ANTIPOLITIKE: ELEMENTI GENEALOGIJE DRUŽBOSLOVJA (In Engl.: Creating antipolitics: elements of the genealogy of the social sciences). Znanstveno in publicistično središče. Ljubljana, 1996.Search in Google Scholar
Vann Vicente: WHAT IS AN INTERNET TROLL? (AND HOW TO HANDLE TROLLS). How-To Geek. 21.1.2020. Available at: <https://www.howtogeek.com/465416/what-is-an-internet-troll-and-how-to-handle-trolls/> (3.8.2020)Search in Google Scholar
Will Kymlicka: CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY: AN INTRODUCTION. Oxford University Press, 2001.10.1093/hepl/9780198782742.003.0001Search in Google Scholar
Yanis Varoufakis: THE GLOBAL MINOTAUR: AMERICA, EUROPE AND THE FUTURE OF THE GLOBAL ECONOMY. Third Edition. Zed Books, 2015.Search in Google Scholar
Zdenek Kühn: FROM STALINIST ANTI-POSITIVISM TO SOCIALIST TEXTUALISM. CENTRAL EUROPEAN JUDICIAL METHODOLOGY DURING THE COLD WAR. (Unpublished version given to me by the judge of the ECtHR)Search in Google Scholar
Zdenek Kühn: MAKING CONSTITUTIONALISM HORIZONTAL: THREE DIFFERENT CENTRAL EUROPEAN STRATEGIES. University of Michigan & Charles University Law School Prague, 2003.Search in Google Scholar
Zygmund Bauman: POSTMODERNA ETIKA (Postmodern Ethics). Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete. Ljubljana (2016).Search in Google Scholar
© 2021 Andraž Teršek, published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.