How to Save a Constitutional Democracy - Aziz Huq & Tom Ginsburg: Chicago Harper Lecture 2019

According to a recent book by Tom Ginsburg and Aziz Z. Huq, How to Save a Constitutional Democracy (University of Chicago Press, 2018), we can no longer afford to be complacent about democracy in the United States. Drawing on a rich array of other countries’ experiences with democratic backsliding, the authors mount an urgent argument to show how constitutional rules can either hinder or hasten the decline of democratic institutions. The checks and balances of the federal government, a robust civil society and media, and individual rights—such as those enshrined in the First Amendment—do not necessarily succeed as bulwarks against democratic decline. Rather, the Constitution’s design may make democratic erosion more likely. But we—and the rest of the world—can do better. Join Ginsburg and Huq to explore practical steps for how laws and constitutional design can play a more positive role in managing the risk of democratic decline.

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00:00 Introduction
04:12 Charmaine Owens, MLA'98
09:26 Democratic erosion
16:40 Democratic backsliding and anti-democratic measures
19:30 The "tool-kit" of democratic erosion abroad
21:55 (1) Constitutional change
25:36 (2) Eliminating "interbranch checks"
29:24 (3) Bureaucratic restraints
31:53 Anti-democratic efforts in the United States
38:08 The federal court system
41:47 The problem with the Constitution
43:39 Q&A
43:53 Are we a Democracy or a Republic?
47:44 Should the Supreme Court be expanded?
53:07 What about the Yellow vests protests in France?

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