Political ideologies and their realization framed by a geopolitical conflict: an analysis of “liberal constitutionalism”

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Author: Andrey Rumyantsev

DOI: 10.21128/1812-7126-2024-4-4-39

Keywords: constitutionalism; liberalism; ideology; theories of democracy; form of government; modernization

Abstract

The article attempts to clarify the meaning of the concept of “constitutionalism”, the use of which in modern scholarly discussion often leads to misunderstandings. As proposed in this article, the term describes the relationship between the constitution as a legal act and ideology as a product of political goal-setting. A typical example of such a construction is “liberal constitutionalism”, meaning the implementation of liberal values in a constitution. Because there are many different interpretations of liberalism, liberal constitutionalism as a term can also be applied to different versions of its implementation. However, in the current political environment, there is a noticeable desire to monopolize use of this term, turning it into a designation of the value system of the Western geopolitical bloc. This is a particular manifestation of a more general phenomenon: the concepts of “constitutionalism” and “liberalism” being influenced by domestic and foreign policy contexts. Currently, in a number of European countries (e.g., Italy, Germany, France), parties at the right end of the political spectrum are becoming more and more popular. Some of these are being successfully integrated into the structures of the “liberal” Western world, which gives the concept of “liberalism” new nuances. Being a partial ideology, liberalism in practice is predisposed to enter into combination with other ideological sources. This can happen explicitly, allowing observers to evaluate the contribution of each of these ideologies to the overall concept. But such a combination can also act under the standard name “liberalism”, trying to disguise its mixed nature, which requires researchers to pay attention when analyzing new political trends. The classifications of ideologies used or implied in research papers are influenced by the political views of the authors, which also needs to be taken into account. In practice, liberal freedoms can be combined with various forms of government. Any decision about this should not be made dogmatically, but rather by taking into account the particularities of a specific society.

About the author: Andrey Rumyantsev – Dr. jur. (Regensburg), Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the journal “Comparative constitutional review”, Moscow, Russia.

Citation: Rumyantsev A. (2024) Politicheskie ideologii i ikh realizatsiya na fone geopoliticheskogo konflikta: analiz ponyatiya “liberal'nyy konstitutsionalizm” [Political ideologies and their realization framed by a geopolitical conflict: an analysis of “liberal constitutionalism”]. Sravnitel'noe konstitutsionnoe obozrenie, vol. 33, no. 4, pp. 4–39. (In Russian).

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