Table Of ContentNew Democracies in Crisis?
This book considers whether the potential for democracy following the
end of the Cold War was diminished by technocratic, judicial control
of politics in the new democracies of Central and Eastern Europe. It
explores the complexities and drawbacks of modern constitutionalism
by offering a comprehensive theoretical and comparative-empirical
assessment of the status and role of cons titutionalism in ¼ve new EU
Member States.
The democratization of countries in Central and Eastern Europe
has been guarded by constitutions and constitutional courts. This book
examines the implications of powerful courts and rigid constitutions
for the democratic engagement of citizens and the political authority
of politicians. Using an interdisciplinary and comparative approach,
the book analyses the historical emergence of powerful constitutional
institutions in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and
Slovakia. The author argues that the democratic promise of 1989 largely
lost out to a technocratic and top-down view of judicial control of
politics – a state of affairs reinforced by EU accession. The current
backlash in countries such as Hungary and Romania indicates that the
realization of democratization to the extent initially expected might be
ever more remote in some new democracies.
New Democracies in Crisis? will be of interest to students and scholars
of European Union politics, democratization studies, European con-
stitutionalism, socio-legal studies, governance and comparative politics.
Paul Blokker is principal investigator in the research unit, Constitutional
Politics in Post-Westphalian Europe (CoPolis), at the University of
Trento, Italy.
Routledge advances in European politics
1 Russian Messianism 9 Democracy and Enlargement in
Third Rome, revolution, Post-Communist Europe
Communism and after The democratisation of the
Peter J.S. Duncan general public in ¼fteen Central
and Eastern European countries,
2 European Integration and 1991–1998
the Postmodern Condition Christian W. Haerpfer
Governance, democracy, identity
Peter van Ham 10 Private Sector Involvement
in the Euro
3 Nationalism in Italian Politics The power of ideas
The stories of the Northern Stefan Collignon and
League, 1980–2000 Daniela Schwarzer
Damian Tambini
11 Europe
A Nietzschean perspective
4 International Intervention in
Stefan Elbe
the Balkans since 1995
Edited by Peter Siani-Davies 12 European Union and E-Voting
Addressing the European Parliament’s
5 Widening the European Union
internet voting challenge
The politics of institutional change
Edited by Alexander H. Trechsel
and reform
and Fernando Mendez
Edited by Bernard Steunenberg
13 European Union Council Presidencies
6 I nstitutional Challenges in A comparative perspective
the European Union Edited by Ole Elgström
Edited by Madeleine Hosli, Adrian
14 European Governance and
van Deemen and Mika Widgrén
Supranational Institutions
7 Europe Unbound Making states comply
Enlarging and reshaping the Jonas Tallberg
boundaries of the European Union 15 European Union, NATO and Russia
Edited by Jan Zielonka Martin Smith and Graham Timmins
8 Ethnic Cleansing in the Balkans 16 Business, the State and
Nationalism and the destruction of Economic Policy
tradition The case of Italy
Cathie Carmichael G. Grant Amyot
17 Europeanization and 28 Germany’s Foreign Policy
Transnational States Towards Poland and the Czech
Comparing Nordic central Republic
governments Ostpolitik revisited
Bengt Jacobsson, Per Lægreid and Karl Cordell and Stefan Wolff
Ove K. Pedersen
29 Kosovo
18 European Union Enlargement The politics of identity and space
A comparative history Denisa Kostovicova
Edited by Wolfram Kaiser and
Jürgen Elvert 30 The Politics of European Union
Enlargement
19 Gibraltar Theoretical approaches
British or Spanish? Edited by Frank Schimmelfennig
Peter Gold and Ulrich Sedelmeier
20 Gendering Spanish Democracy 31 Europeanizing Social Democracy?
Monica Threlfall, Christine The rise of the party of European
Cousins and Celia Valiente socialists
Simon Lightfoot
21 European Union Negotiations
Processes, networks and 32 Con½ict and Change in EU
negotiations Budgetary Politics
Edited by Ole Elgström and Johannes Lindner
Christer Jönsson
33 Gibraltar, Identity and Empire
22 Evaluating Euro-Mediterranean E.G. Archer
Relations
Stephen C. Calleya 34 Governance Stories
Mark Bevir and R.A.W. Rhodes
23 The Changing Face of European
Identity 35 Britain and the Balkans
A seven-nation study of (supra) 1991 until the present
national attachments Carole Hodge
Edited by Richard Robyn
36 The Eastern Enlargement of
24 Governing Europe the European Union
Discourse, governmentality and John O’Brennan
European integration
37 Values and Principles in European
William Walters and
Union Foreign Policy
Jens Henrik Haahr
Edited by Sonia Lucarelli and
25 Territory and Terror Ian Manners
Con½icting nationalisms in
38 European Union and the Making
the Basque country
Jan Mansvelt Beck of a Wider Northern Europe
Pami Aalto
26 Multilateralism, German Foreign
Policy and Central Europe 39 Democracy in the European Union
Claus Hofhansel Towards the emergence of a
public sphere
27 Popular Protest in East Germany Edited by Liana Giorgi, Ingmar
Gareth Dale Von Homeyer and Wayne Parsons
40 European Union Peacebuilding 49 The EU and the European
and Policing Security Strategy
Michael Merlingen with Forging a global Europe
Rasa Ostrauskaite Edited by Sven Biscop and
Jan Joel Andersson
41 The Conservative Party and
European Integration since 1945 50 European Security and Defence
At the heart of Europe? Policy
N.J. Crowson An implementation perspective
Edited by Michael Merlingen and
42 E-Government in Europe Rasa Ostrauskait(cid:417)
Re-booting the state
51 Women and British Party Politics
Edited by Paul G. Nixon and
Descriptive, substantive and
Vassiliki N. Koutrakou
symbolic representation
43 EU Foreign and Interior Policies Sarah Childs
Cross-pillar politics and the 52 The Selection of Ministers in Europe
social construction of sovereignty Hiring and ¼ring
Stephan Stetter Edited by Keith Dowding and
Patrick Dumont
44 Policy Transfer in European
Union Governance 53 Energy Security
Regulating the utilities Europe’s new foreign policy
Simon Bulmer, David Dolowitz, challenge
Peter Humphreys and Richard Youngs
Stephen Padgett
54 Institutional Challenges in
45 The Europeanization of National Post-Constitutional Europe
Political Parties Governing change
Power and organizational Edited by Catherine Moury and
adaptation Luís de Sousa
Edited by Thomas Poguntke, Nicholas
55 The Struggle for the European
Aylott, Elisabeth Carter, Robert
Constitution
Ladrech and Kurt Richard Luther
A past and future history
46 Citizenship in Nordic Welfare Michael O’Neill
States 56 Transnational Labour Solidarity
Dynamics of choice, duties and Mechanisms of commitment to
participation in a changing Europe cooperation within the European
Edited by Bjørn Hvinden and trade union movement
Håkan Johansson Katarzyna Gajewska
47 National Parliaments within 57 The Illusion of Accountability in
the Enlarged European Union the European Union
From victims of integration to Edited by Sverker Gustavsson,
competitive actors? Christer Karlsson, and
Edited by John O’Brennan and Thomas Persson
Tapio Raunio
58 The European Union and Global
48 Britain, Ireland and Northern Social Change
Ireland since 1980 A critical geopolitical-economic
The totality of relationships analysis
Eamonn O’Kane József Böröcz
59 Citizenship and Collective Identity 69 Fifty Years of EU–Turkey
in Europe Relations
Ireneusz Pawel Karolewski A Sisyphean story
Edited by Armagan Emre Çakir
60 EU Enlargement and Socialization
Turkey and Cyprus 70 Europeanization and Foreign Policy
Stefan Engert State diversity in Finland and
Britain
61 The politics of EU accession
Juha Jokela
Turkish challenges and Central
European experiences 71 EU Foreign Policy and
Edited by Lucie Tunkrová and Post-Soviet Con½icts
Pavel Šaradín Stealth intervention
Nicu Popescu
62 The Political History of European
Integration 72 Switzerland in Europe
The hypocrisy of democracy- Continuity and change in the
through-market Swiss political economy
Hagen Schulz-Forberg and Bo Stråth Edited by Christine Trampusch
and André Mach
63 The Spatialities of Europeanization
Power, governance and territory
73 The Political Economy of
in Europe
Noncompliance
Alun Jones and Julian Clark
Adjusting to the single European
64 European Union Sanctions and market
Foreign Policy Scott Nicholas Siegel
When and why do they work?
74 National and European Foreign
Clara Portela
Policy
65 The EU’s Role in World Politics Towards Europeanization
A retreat from liberal Edited by Reuben Wong and
internationalism Christopher Hill
Richard Youngs
75 The European Union Diplomatic
66 Social Democracy and European Service
Integration Ideas, preferences and identities
The politics of preference Caterina Carta
formation
76 Poland within the European Union
Edited by Dionyssis
New awkward partner or new
Dimitrakopoulos
heart of Europe?
67 The EU Presence in International Aleks Szczerbiak
Organizations
Edited by Spyros Blavoukos and 77 A Political Theory of Identity in
Dimitris Bourantonis European Integration
Memory and policies
68 Sustainability in European Catherine Guisan
Environmental Policy
Challenge of governance and 78 EU Foreign Policy and the
knowledge Europeanization of Neutral States
Edited by Rob Atkinson, Comparing Irish and Austrian
Georgios Terizakis and foreign policy
Karsten Zimmermann Nicole Alecu de Flers
79 Party System Change in Western 90 European Union Public Health
Europe Policy
Gemma Loomes Regional and global trends
Edited by Scott L. Greer and
80 The Second Tier of Local
Paulette Kurzer
Government in Europe
Provinces, counties, départements 91 The New Member States and
and Landkreise in comparison the European Union
Hubert Heinelt and Xavier Foreign policy and Europeanization
Bertrana Horta Edited by Michael Baun and
Dan Marek
81 Learning from the EU
Constitutional Treaty 92 The Politics of Rati¼cation of EU
Democratic constitutionalism Treaties
beyond the nation-state Carlos Closa
Ben Crum 93 Europeanization and New Member
States
82 Human Rights and Democracy in
A comparative social network
EU Foreign Policy
analysis
The cases of Ukraine and Egypt
Flavia Jurje
Rosa Balfour
94 National Perspectives on Russia
83 Europeanization, Integration and
European foreign policy in the
Identity
making
A social constructivist fusion
Maxine David, Jackie Gower and
perspective on Norway
Hiski Haukkala
Gamze Tanil
95 Institutional Legacies of
84 The Impact of European Communism
Integration on Political Parties Change and continuities in
Beyond the permissive consensus minority protection
Dimitri Almeida Edited by Karl Cordell, Timofey
Agarin and Alexander Osipov
85 Civic Resources and the Future of
the European Union 96 Sustainable Development and
Victoria Kaina and Ireneusz Governance in Europe
Pawel Karolewski The evolution of the discourse on
sustainability
86 The Europeanization of National
Edited by Pamela M. Barnes and
Foreign Policies Towards Latin
Thomas C. Hoerber
America
Lorena Ruano 97 Social Networks and Public
Support for the European Union
87 The EU and Multilateral Security Elizabeth Radziszewski
Governance
98 The EU’s Democracy Promotion
Sonia Lucarelli, Luk Van
and the Mediterranean Neighbours
Langenhove and Jan Wouters
Orientation, ownership and
88 Security Challenges in the dialogue in Jordan and Turkey
Euro-Med Area in the 21st Ann-Kristin Jonasson
Century
99 New Democracies in Crisis?
Mare Nostrum
A comparative constitutional study
Stephen Calleya
of the Czech Republic, Hungary,
89 Society and Democracy in Europe Poland, Romania and Slovakia
Oscar W. Gabriel and Silke Keil Paul Blokker
New Democracies in Crisis?
A comparative constitutional
study of the Czech Republic,
Hungary, Poland, Romania
and Slovakia
Paul Blokker
First published 2014
by Routledge
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© 2014 Paul Blokker
The right of Paul Blokker to be identi¼ed as author of this work has been asserted in
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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
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trademarks, and are used only for identi¼cation and explanation without intent to
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Blokker, Paul.
New democracies in crisis? : a comparative constitutional study of the Czech
Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia / Paul Blokker.
pages cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-415-69586-2 (hardback) – ISBN 978-0-203-79502-6 (ebook)
1. Constitutional law–Europe, Eastern, 2. Constitutional law–Europe, Central.
3. Post-communism–Europe, Eastern. 4. Post-communism–Europe, Central.
5. Europe, Eastern–Politics and government–1989– 6. Europe, Central–Politics
and government–1989– I. Title.
KJC4445.B59 2013
342.43–dc23
2013007920
ISBN13: 978-0-415-69586-2 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978-0-203-79502-6 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
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To Duccio
