Judging in the Age of Populism

In recent years, nation-states around the world have been besieged by a new wave of populism.

- SAAI SUDHARSAN SATHIYAMOORTHY

Old and glorious democracies have had their roots shaken, with their populace harboring considerable disenchantment with age-old institutions. The new wave defies easy political pigeonholing, as billionaires become proclaimed champions of the down-trodden and the moral values of the neoliberal coalition peter out.

This interregnum not only reverses the advancements made by economic liberals towards a globally unified polity, but has also led to a Kulturkampf between self-proclaimed democrats and populists, both of whom feel the bite of the pool rapidly drying up and elected officials failing to offer any clear solution. The heedless push from elite liberal institutions to acculturate the ordinary masses to universalist values have backfired. In many ways, this interregnum manifests the underlying conflict between the ideal of democracy as a system of values and of democracy as a governing institution.

The institution of the court and the democratic and constitutional principles it seeks to protect are seen by this alliance as roadblocks rather than as guarantors of impartial justice. Another common narrative thread that carries through is the avowed belief that executive powers cannot be constrained by unelected judges. There is a strong belief that the law consists only of legislation and that any judicial development of law or review of such legislation is illegitimate.