Delegitimizing by Procrastinating - Parliamentary Inertia in the Election of Constitutional Judges in Italy

Abstract

In countries where populist movements have garnered significant electoral support, their self-proclaimed role as the sole representatives of the true will of a unified people has led them to assert that their democratic legitimacy surpasses the technocratic authority of constitutional courts. The requirement of supermajorities in the election of Italy's constitutional judges has, in combination with a changed political landscape, led to political deadlocks, entailing the risk of jeopardizing the Court’s operability and partisanship-based appointments.

Keywords

• Italian Constitutional Court
• Italy
• Richterwahl
• constitutional democracy
• election of constitutional judges
• selection of constitutional court judges