Considering that constitutions are texts written for purposes and addressing audiences, one may wonder why authoritarian regimes bother having constitutions. Why did Hitler extend the Enabling Act three times? Why did Assad revise the Syrian Constitution during a murderous civil war? Günter Frankenberg will talk about how answer of liberal scholars that authoritarian constitutions are just a façade or window dressing may not capture their purposes and overlook that authoritarian leaders want to reach certain audiences.
Speaker:
Günter Frankenberg is a Professor of Public Law, Legal Philosophy and Comparative Law at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main.
Moderator:
Marlene Laruelle, Ph.D., is Director of the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies; Director of the Central Asia Program; Director of the Illiberalism Studies Program; Co-Director of PONARS Eurasia; and Research Professor of International Affairs at The George Washington University. She works on political, social, and cultural changes in the post-Soviet space. Marlene’s research explores the transformations of nationalist and conservative ideologies in Russia, nationhood construction in Central Asia, as well as the development of Russia’s Arctic regions.