Constitutionalism in Times of Democratic Backsliding

For the Balkinization on Mark Tushnet and Bojan Bugaric, Constitutionalism and Its Discontents (Oxford University Press, 2026).Laura Gamboa Though often thought as linear and cohesive the literature on democratic resilience struggles with two relatively opposing premises. On the one hand, the rise of would-be-autocrats is portrayed as the outcome of political establishments unable to adequately represent voters and strong well-entrenched institutions that sustain minority government.[1] On the other hand, scholars contend, would be autocrats are more likely to succeed when they are fighting weak unentrenched institutions that can be easily amended or erased to undermine the checks on the executive.[2] Scholars and practitioners interested in curbing the erosion of democracy, are therefore, based with a dilemma. Should we strive for well-entrenched hard to change constitution? Or should we design charters that majorities can easily change? Constitutionalism and its Discontents takes up…