3 - Constitutions

Summary

When populists in power obtain sufficient constitutional majorities, their preference is to replace the old constitution with their own, as the examples of Hungary and Venezuela show. This process of constitutional transformation is unilateral and frantic, without serious deliberation and consultation with the opposition. The substance of new constitutions emphasizes the symbolism of a "fresh start" and break with the non-populist past. When populists in power cannot change the constitution, they break the old one whenever convenient to them, as the example of Poland shows. Populists disregard constitutional conventions and treat the bare text as the only source of constitutional meanings.