Illiberalism and the Constitution of the Slovak Republic: Political Discourse Analysis
About the project
Summary of the idea: The Slovak Constitution embraces democracy and the rule of law. Globally and historically, however, commitment to these ideas has sometimes correlated with the erosion of democracy. The risk of erosion also in Slovakia prompts asking whether the Slovak Constitution contains ideas, which constrain democracy and the rule of law, considered as illiberal. If so, which political actors defend and which actors contest them? Addressing these questions advances the understanding of democracy’s resilience, and maps the use of the terminology of illiberalism in Slovakia. Furthermore, it advances political science research on constitutions and constitutionalism. At the theoretical level we systematize the state of art on the use and approaches to the concept of illiberalism. Empirically, we analyze original data from the Slovak Constitution and its amendments, parliamentary discourse, decisions of the Constitutional Court on interpretation of the Constitution, and academic writings.
Duration: 1 January 2023 – 31 December 2025
Research team (Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Arts, Department of Political Science):
- Mgr. Zsolt Gál, PhD.
- doc. Mgr. Erik Láštic, PhD.
- prof. PhDr. Darina Malová, PhD. (deputy to the principal investigator)
- Max Steuer, M.A., LL.M., PhD. (principal investigator)
Budget: 2023 (2979 €); 2024 (5082 €); 2025 (to be assessed in 2025)
Funder: Scientific Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sports of the Slovak Republic (VEGA-1/0658/23)
Publications
Academic publications:
- Max Steuer, ‘Judicial Self-Perceptions and the Separation of Powers in Varied Political Regime Contexts: The Constitutional Courts in Hungary and Slovakia’, European Politics and Society 25, no. 3 (2024): 537–55, https://doi.org/10.1080/23745118.2023.2244390.
- Max Steuer, ‘Towards Understanding Constitutional Court Resilience Vis-à-Vis Autocratization: An Institutionalist Approach’, Oñati Socio-Legal Series, forthcoming 2025.
- Max Steuer, 'The “Will of the People” as Means for Pressuring the Rule of Law? The Case of the Slovak Constitutional Court', Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft (German Journal of Comparative Politics), forthcoming 2025.
Publications for a wider audience:
- Max Steuer and Darina Malová, ‘To Hell, on a White Horse: Governing in Slovakia after the 2023 Early Elections’, Verfassungsblog (blog), 26 October 2023, https://verfassungsblog.de/to-hell-on-a-white-horse/.
- Max Steuer, ‘When Talking about Militant Democracy, Let’s Focus More on Judicial Craft’, SLSA Blog (blog), 3 June 2024, https://slsablog.co.uk/blog/blog-posts/when-talking-about-militant-democracy-lets-focus-more-on-judicial-craft/.