This is a short piece with some thoughts on sortition. It is not a fully fleshed out post yet, it may grow into an essay later. As David van Reybrouck describes in his brilliant book Against Elections, citizen assemblies are an increasingly popular tool to formulate policy and regain citizens' trust. However, we contend that … Continue reading Against sortition
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Nitrogen crisis: The result of the institutional failure of parliament
The nitrogen crisis could have been prevented. Parliament, through their inaction, failed to hold the government accountable, to consult to find better solutions and to build support for their legislation in society. According to Joes de Natris, who is writing this article in a personal capacity, it has failed to carry out its constitutional duty. … Continue reading Nitrogen crisis: The result of the institutional failure of parliament
Book review: From the Ruins of Empire – Pankaj Mishra
How can a people respond to the loss of their independence to another people who are military superior? Should they blindly copy their oppressors? Should they wholly reject everything the oppressors stand for, and instead redevelop the purity of their own culture? Or should they adopt crucial elements of the oppressor's culture and economy, while … Continue reading Book review: From the Ruins of Empire – Pankaj Mishra
The Golden Rule is Key: President von der Leyen and Western European Leaders are Undermining the EU’s Stability
"In response to Hungary’s new law banning “promoting or portraying as an end in itself” homosexuality or sex reassignment to minors and limiting sexual education in schools, the European Union and the Western media discourse has been indulging its worst nature. While touting the virtues of federalism, tolerance, and diversity in pursuit of stability, the … Continue reading The Golden Rule is Key: President von der Leyen and Western European Leaders are Undermining the EU’s Stability
Dutch voters have not become more punitive since the 1990s
In the Netherlands, like in other Western countries, we have been hearing the stories about the angry or alienated voter for a long time. Right wing populism has been present in parliament since the 1980s, and became really big with the electoral victory of Pim Fortuyn in the 2000s. Yet looking at the incumbency effect … Continue reading Dutch voters have not become more punitive since the 1990s
Federal Constitutional Politics: The Big Picture of the EU-Hungarian LGTBQ+ Law Controversy
We’ve Got to Get our Shit Together if We Want to Stay Together Hungary has been flouting liberal democratic norms for nearly a decade. In June 2021, it introduced a law regulating sex education and television programming for people under 18 to exclude ‘promotion’ of gay and transgender ways of being. Suddenly, the debate on … Continue reading Federal Constitutional Politics: The Big Picture of the EU-Hungarian LGTBQ+ Law Controversy
Welcome to Leviathan’s Couch
We are all part of a constitutional organisation larger than ourselves. The human being is a political animal, and wherever humans engage in complex association, exchange and dialogue, constitutional politics abound. Ultimately, constitutional politics is about the politics of the deep ‘close to the metal’ institutional structure of society. Constitutional Politics are all around us.Institutions … Continue reading Welcome to Leviathan’s Couch
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