Executive Aggrandizement in Established Democracies: A Crisis of Liberal Democratic Constitutionalism

International Journal of Constitutional Law, ISBN: 9780190888985, (2019 Forthcoming)

13 Pages Posted: 16 Dec 2018 Last revised: 14 Jan 2019

See all articles by Tarunabh Khaitan

Tarunabh Khaitan

London School of Economics - Law School

Date Written: December 11, 2018

Abstract

Drawing upon the authors of this edited collection titled 'Constitutional Democracy in Crisis?' (Graber, Levinson and Tushnet eds., OUP 2018), I argue in Section A that the unfolding crisis is not a crisis of state, governance, legality or politics. Section B suggests that, instead, we are witnessing a crisis of executive accountability. There is a gradual erosion of all three forms of accountability-seeking mechanisms: (i) electoral or vertical accountability to the people, (ii) horizontal or institutional accountability to the political opposition, judiciary and fourth branch institutions, and (iii) diagonal or discursive accountability to the academy, media and civil society. Section C identifies the precise mechanisms through which executive aggrandizement is taking place. It argues that this aggrandizement is incremental and systemic, uses democratic rhetoric, and is effected by the fusion of the ruling party and the state. Section D emphasises the limitations of the judiciary in defending democracy on its own, and calls for greater attention to the role of political parties, fourth branch institutions, electoral systems and global institutions.

Keywords: democratic backsliding, constitutional democracy, executive aggrandizement, comparative constitutional law

Suggested Citation

Khaitan, Tarunabh, Executive Aggrandizement in Established Democracies: A Crisis of Liberal Democratic Constitutionalism (December 11, 2018). International Journal of Constitutional Law, ISBN: 9780190888985, (2019 Forthcoming), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3299442

Tarunabh Khaitan (Contact Author)

London School of Economics - Law School ( email )

Houghton Street
London WC2A 2AE, WC2A 2AE
United Kingdom

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