New Democracies in Crisis?—A Comparative Constitutional Study of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Romania

The re-establishment of constitutionalism and liberal democracy in Central and Eastern Europe comes at a specific moment in world history: state-centric, modern constitutionalism is increasingly problematic and challenged, and is subject to a variety of tensions and pressures, not least those related to European integration.

This book explores the complexities and drawbacks of modern constitutionalism by offering a comprehensive theoretical and comparative-empirical assessment of the status and role of constitutionalism in five New EU Member States. In theoretical terms, the book offers an innovative contribution to comparative political, legal, and socio-legal studies in the development of an original, systematic, and critical framework for the analysis and interpretation of modern constitutionalism. Divided in two parts:

• Part I consists of a cutting-edge, multi-dimensional and pluralist theoretical framework for the analysis of modern constitutionalism, in which it is emphasized that constitutionalism entails more than a negative, limitative device of grounding democracy and limiting power, and is not necessarily conducive to democratization.
• Part II implements the framework by means of a comprehensive comparative analysis of constitutional trajectories in five New EU Member States: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Romania.

It will be of interest to students and scholars of European Union politics, democratisation studies, European constitutionalism, socio-legal studies, governance and comparative politics.

Paul Blokker is principle investigator in the research unit ‘Constitutional Politics in Post-Westphalian Europe’ (CoPolis) at the University of Trento, Italy.