The world is not yet ready...

Like Dylan going electric or Picasso’s cubism, Ben moving from memes to short form video will be known as one of the greatest intellectual and artistic shifts in a person’s career

The Failures of Others | Cambridge University Press & Assessment

My book is finally out open access,dealing w arguments from failure, i.e. when institutions act in legally problematic ways because others have failed to do their job. It is comparative & should be interesting (I hope), even if it doesn't hold all the answers. www.cambridge.org/se/universit...

The ‘Danish model’ is the darling of centre-left parties like Labour. The problem is, it doesn’t even work in Denmark | Cas Mudde This week’s local elections are the latest reminder that when social democrats move rightwards, they’re making a mistake, says academic and author Cas Mudde

Cas Mudde spells out what has become largely the consensus among researchers: moving right on immigration will not weaken the far right nor strengthen social democracy. If your reaction is "but in Denmark" please at least familiarize yourself with Danish politics

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

For the record, I do not hold any degrees from the University of Helsinki nor have I ever claimed to do so.

Selection committees: please send us a copy of your PhD certificate

Also selection committees:

This as not simply populism, it's an extreme assault on public institutions and structures. The last week has been about the BBC, but comes alongside mounting attacks on judicial independence/the European Court of Human Rights. Treating each issue in isolation will see them killed off one by one.

Four three-year postdoctoral positions in the project Slow-Motion Democracy - Vacancy at Aarhus University Vacancy at Department of Political Science, Aarhus University

Four (!) three-year postdoc positions available at @au.dk: international.au.dk/about/profil...

Join an incredible team & help understand the psychological & political implications of the clash between high-speed society & slow-speed democracy.

Please share! @tboeggild.bsky.social can help with Qs

Hurricane Melissa has done catastrophic damage to Western Jamaica. We are used to hurricanes, but this is the worst hurricane on record that has ever hit the island. There has been devastation to infrastructure and housing. If you are able to, please donate to relief efforts: supportjamaica.gov.jm

In memory of Conor Gearty, Public Law's 2007 symposium on his Hamlyn Lectures, "Can Human Rights Survive?" is available to read here: www.sweetandmaxwell.co.uk/content/dam/...

Thanks for the “recommended” tag, Larry!
Excited to share my job-market paper, which uses the recent religious charter school case to show how faith-based entities secure public funds while sidestepping constitutional limits—a phenomenon I term “private disestablishment.”

Thanks for highlighting, Larry! This chapter argues that education law has privileged parental choice & religious freedom while sidelining equality. I argue for re-centering education as a right that secures both liberty & equality—the foundation of democratic citizenship.

Right-Wing Culture Warfare Comes to Germany Jan-Werner Mueller worries that the governing Christian Democrats is beginning to engage in opportunistic norm-breaking.

"The sabotaging of what normally is a consensual procedure is a test-run for prying away ever more members of the center-right from what remains of Angela Merkel’s legacy through US-style culture war."

The next Public Law Conference will be held at University of Cape Town, 1-4 July 2026. The theme is Public Law and the Future of Constitutional Democracy. 2026 marks the 30 year anniversary since the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. More details coming soon.

1/3 Academic freedom is becoming an increasingly pressing issue worldwide, challenged in diverse political and legal contexts. Here are some recent resources : Special issue on academic freedom, edited by Kriszta Kovács and Janika Spannagel: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Devastated I missed this...

Cover of the Verfassungsbook "Indian Constitutionalism at Crossroads: 2014-2024". The Cover is based an map created by Arun Ganesh.

Publication day! 💫

Our Verfassungsbook “Indian Constitutionalism at Crossroads: 2014-2024”, edited by ANMOL JAIN (@anmoljain-law.bsky.social) and TANJA HERKLOTZ (@tanjaherklotz.bsky.social) is now available in print and online! 📚

Check it out now! verfassungsblog.de/books/

I love these so much

Populism remains an important necessary concept to understand current political transformations. But analysts need to move away from it as the main focus. Authoritarian nativism, white supremacy, racism, sexism and fascism are the ideologies at the core of the current erosion of liberal democracy 1/

Holding out for the day when I can afford to buy back all the articles I’ve published

I’d strongly prefer being called a (potentially) “lucky loser” than being on the reserve list…

Beauty of the English language: "in sync" is so much crisper and more elegant than Gleichschaltung.

Many thanks to @verfassungsblog.de and in particular Charlotte for some heavy editorial lifting on this!

Remember those - partially very silly - changes that Meta announced to its content moderation policies in January? The @oversightboard.bsky.social has pushed back gently but it may also have adapted its own approach to better suit Meta's new stance...

Quote: “It is now on the European Commission to halt the retrogressive measures that Hungary is implementing in an attempt to reshape the Union’s founding values.”

Why the new Hungarian Transparency Bill is an attack on the foundations of the European Union:

RENÁTA UITZ on the notorious transparency bill, why constitutional democracy in Hungary is under threat — and what the European Union should do now.

verfassungsblog.de/hungary-tran...

Here's a little something I wrote on this: www.nomos-elibrary.de/de/10.5771/0...

America Is Watching the Rise of a Dual State For most people, the courts will continue to operate as usual—until they don’t.

This is an under-appreciated point in much of the thinking about democratic backsliding - much of society continues as "normal" and many not actively participating in the cruelty will even benefit in some way.

www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

Quote from our published article by author Marie: “Both the ban and its judicial review highlight and perpetuate the longstanding French tradition of experimenting with emergency powers to control the colonies and their populations.”

What if a TikTok ban says more about empire than about safety?

MARIE LAUR (marielaur.bsky.social) uncovers how the French TikTok ban in New Caledonia exposed colonial legacies at the heart of digital censorship and emergency powers.

verfassungsblog.de/the-tiktok-b...

Posts Displaying South Africa’s Apartheid-Era Flag | Oversight Board Following a review of two Facebook posts containing images of South Africa’s 1928-1994 flag, the majority of the Board has upheld Meta’s decisions to keep them up. They do not clearly advocate for exc...

I have yet to read this carefully but I'm surprised the Meta Oversight Board allowed the display of the apartheid era South African flag. It's considered hate speech in SA and very few people would display if not to support apartheid.

www.oversightboard.com/decision/bun...

1/7 Can the executive ‘safeguard’ the constitution? The UK Constitution Committee says yes, but I worry. The plural UK executive means this is unlikely. And if we want internal executive checks like the civil service to work, we need to strengthen them now. Trump 2.0 is a warning.