The Foundations of Institutional AuThority: a multi-dimensional model of the separation of powers

Projektinformationen

FIAT

ID Finanzhilfevereinbarung: 819877

DOI

10.3030/819877

EK-Unterschriftsdatum 27 Februar 2019

Startdatum 1 Januar 2020

Enddatum 31 Dezember 2026

Finanziert unter

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)

Gesamtkosten

€ 1 997 627,50

EU-Beitrag

€ 1 997 627,50

Koordiniert durch

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND, DUBLIN
Ireland

Periodic Reporting for period 4 - FIAT (The Foundations of Institutional AuThority: a multi-dimensional model of the separation of powers)

Berichtszeitraum: 2024-07-01 bis 2025-12-31

Zusammenfassung vom Kontext und den Gesamtzielen des Projekts

‘Almost three centuries later, it is past time to rethink Montesquieu’s holy trinity’ (Ackerman, 2010).

As Ackerman (and many others) have observed, political reality has long left the traditional model of the separation of powers behind. The problems posed by this gap between constitutional theory and political practice have recently acquired fresh urgency as political and social developments place the separation of powers under strain. These include the emergence of authoritarian leaders; personalisation of political authority; recourse to non-legal plebiscites; and the capture or de-legitimisation of other constitutional bodies.

This project argues that these difficulties are rooted in a deeper problem with constitutional thinking about institutional power: a constitution-as-law approach that equates the conferral of legal power with the authority to exercise it. This makes it possible for a gap to emerge between legal accounts of authority and its diverse –and potentially conflicting – sociological foundations. Where that gap exists, the practical authority of an institution (or constitution) may be vulnerable to challenge from rival and more socially-resonant claims. It is this gap between legal norms and social facts that the project will investigate – and ultimately bridge. How is authority established? How is it maintained? How might it fail? And how does the constitution shape, re-shape and come to be shaped by those processes?

Arbeit, die ab Beginn des Projekts bis zum Ende des durch den Bericht erfassten Berichtszeitraums geleistet wurde, und die wichtigsten bis dahin erzielten Ergebnisse

By investigating these questions across six case studies, the project will produce a multi-dimensional account of institutional authority that takes seriously the sociological influence of both law and culture.

Fortschritte, die über den aktuellen Stand der Technik hinausgehen und voraussichtliche potenzielle Auswirkungen (einschließlich der bis dato erzielten sozioökonomischen Auswirkungen und weiter gefassten gesellschaftlichen Auswirkungen des Projekts)

The results from these cases provide the evidential foundation for the project’s final outputs: a new model and new evaluative measures of the separation of powers.

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