Today, within the Comparative Law of Institutional Communication course, Prof. Giuseppe Martinico from the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies delivered a lecture on Populisms and Constitutional Counter-Narratives in the European Legal Framework.
By framing populism as a constitutional law issue, Professor Martinico provided students with a definition of populism and examined its main causes, contrasting the economic insecurity hypothesis with the so-called cultural backlash thesis.
Professor Martinico then guided students through the key aspects of populisms.
First, he explored how populisms embrace a radical majoritarian approach, portraying constitutions as obstacles to so-called true democracy. He explained how populist movements tend to resist counter-majoritarian mechanisms – such as checks and balances and the protection of minorities – arguing that these safeguards only serve to weaken the power of the majority.
He then turned to the role of identity politics, a central feature of many populist movements, often reinforced at the constitutional level. In this context, he invited students to reflect on the significance of memory laws and the way populist narratives construct a collective identity by identifying enemies of historical truth, which are portrayed as outsiders or adversaries.
Finally, Prof. Martinico guided the discussion toward the politics of immediacy, a defining trait of populism that fosters a direct connection between the leader and the people. He highlighted how this often translates into an emphasis on referendums as the ultimate expression of popular will, while representative institutions are dismissed as obstacles that fragment, rather than unify, political identity.
By examining various national contexts – from the United Kingdom to Poland, Hungary to the United States, passing through Argentina and Italy – Martinico highlighted how populist movements operate in a mimetic and parasitic way, instrumentalizing the categories and concepts of constitutionalism by pushing an extreme interpretation of democracy that absolutizes majority rule at the expense of minorities and the rule of law.
The discussion on populisms with Prof. Martinico will continue next April 7th with a lecture on The Value of European Constitutionalism in the Face of the Populist Challenge.
