What Can Constitutional Law Do Against the Erosion of Democracy and the Rule of Law? On the Interconnectedness of the Protection of Democracy and the Rule of Law

Abstract

Democracy and the rule of law are slowly deteriorating in several countries around the world, including some Member States of the EU. There are many reasons for this, such as economic changes, new digital communication channels and geopolitical developments. Furthermore, the manner in which former socialist countries acceded to the EU turned out to be counterproductive for the state of democracy and the rule of law in these countries. Constitutional law has a number of tools at its disposal for preventing or reversing such tendencies. While constitutional lawyers typically see the rule of law as the guardian of democracy, the rule of law cannot entirely protect democracy in political reality. In fact, it is partly the other way around: democratic rotation guarantees the rule of law. Consequently, constitutional courts, concerned politicians and citizens should concentrate their efforts more strongly on democratic rotation than is currently the case.

Keywords: illiberalism, populism, the rule of law crisis of the European Union, quantitative methods in constitutional law, institutionalism, political morality, institutional alcoholism, Böckenförde Dilemma