Constitutional Practices in Times “After Liberty”

This chapter discusses the puzzle of illiberal practices as a constitutional problem. Illiberal rulers tend to gradually arrogate executive powers and secure their hold on elected office, while insulating themselves from the potential adverse legal consequences of their actions, in the manner of Caesaristic plebiscitary leadership. As a result, they restrict political competition and contestation, the plurality of the political community, and ultimately, individual liberty. The age of illiberal democracy is one “after liberty.” This chapter situates scholarship on illiberal constitutional practices in the broader context of scholarship on constitutionalism. Thereafter it takes stock of select illiberal constitutional practices affecting the electoral system, the legislature, the executive, the judiciary, and the civil service. In closing, it explores the suppression of liberty and the chilling effect of illiberal practices that characterize times “after liberty.”