European Constitutional Order and Populist Legal Revolution: A Challenge for Western Liberal Democracies.

Populism is the most important political phenomenon of our times. Especially in Europe, Populism has produced relevant effects on Institutions and on social and political approach at contemporary challenges. Especially in time of “crisis” (migration and economic-financial crisis), the populist political approach is also reflected in their economic vision at national and supranational level. In the populist theoretical and rhetorical approach, each national or supranational independent Institution, composed of unelected technicians, which limits the “sovereignty” of the “politician” as an expression of the “popular will”, must be subjected to the power of democratic political authorities. From the legal point of view, populism, claiming the original popular sovereignty, tends to question the foundations on which European democratic constitutionalism is founded. In this way, the most relevant populists’ goals in the field of legal order are the following: I) reconsideration of the judicial bodies’ independence; II) presidential form of government; III) greater powers for the President and reduction of the role of Parliament; IV) plebiscitary tendencies, for the stabilization of a system based on a direct dialogue between leadership and citizens. Populist political movements and parties shake the democratic institutions’ basis, criticize the closure of the elite against the demos and the abyssal distance between citizens and the ruling class. The populist political movements have essentially identified the “people” as their point of reference, exalting their virtues, denouncing the oppression of the dominant power groups and attacking the ruling elite with authentic political marketing strategies. However, as soon as become lawmakers, they tend to evolve themselves in a ruling elite, dictating the daily political agenda setting and aiming to preserve the power by means of a strong political propaganda. In this way, though every national experience has different features, it’s possible to identify some common character, such as the authoritarian tendency and the delegitimization of the political adversary. The Populism authoritarian approach clearly denotes the “revolutionary” vision of populist political movements towards democratic Institutions and constitutional order. The last European parliamentary elections have told us that European Populism political movements and parties are not majority in EU but, at the same time, they are the most relevant political challenge for the European legal framework. The hegemonic ability to impose the topics of public debate shows us how the populist political movements are potentially capable to produce deep changes within the framework of the European and national legal orders. Beginning from a constitutional perspective, the aim of this research proposal is to investigate, with a critical attitude and a multidisciplinary approach, the theoretical roots of populist phenomenon, the differences among the single national experiences in EU space and the effects of populist political action on the European legal order and on democratic Institutions.