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L’identità dello Stato beneventano: Riflessioni a margine del volume di Giulia Zornetta
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Konkurrenz um das kulturelle Gedächtnis?: Fortunato Santini und die preußische Stiftung einer Palestrina-Büste für die Protomoteca Capitolina in Rom (1843–1846)
Full text linkProcessi pontifici in partibus. La giurisdizione papale delegata nel XIII secolo: alcuni casi in Puglia
Full text linkMonumental Artworks as Difficult Heritage: Examining the Memory of Fascist Colonialism in Sicily
Full text linkChoice Illusions: Through 'Rule by Law' to 'Electoral Capture' in Hungary and Poland?
Full text linkNational populist leaders across the EU, and in particular governments in backsliding Members States such as Hungary under Fidesz and Poland under PiS, like to proclaim themselves as true representatives of the people. They pit the principle of popular choice against the demands of the rule of law, defined among others as protection against abuses of majority rule. Their claims are often repudiated with normative arguments about democratic checks and balances and the separation of powers. The question whether populists in government actually command majorities has been surprisingly secondary. This exploratory research examines how ‘strongmen’ in office undermine the rule of law to not only advance their illiberal agendas, but also lower the risk of losing future ballots. Across key aspects of the process, it considers how the pair had laid foundations to game if not capture electoral competition. Even when their interventions did not produce dramatic results, cumulatively they removed crucial safeguards for democratic elections. As such, these populists’ assault on liberal democracy is a misnomer: by crippling the rule of law, they also undermine the very essence of democracy proper, or the freedom to choose
