Salon für Grundsatzfragen: Liberale Demokratie

In the organizer's words:

Conversation

Liberal democracies stand for strong individual liberties. Populist heads of government such as Viktor Orbán or Benjamin Netanyahu, on the other hand, often strongly criticize the judiciary for defending these rights. If political decisions are put within the constitutional bounds by the courts, populists often claim that "the courts" are acting against the will of "the people". In their eyes, the actions of the courts are fundamentally undemocratic. However, there is less harsh, non-populist criticism of the juridification of politics: how much freedom does a government have if there is always the threat of "Karlsruhe"? If you look at the other side, NGOs, for example, like to use the judicial system instead of politics to make their issues heard - from minority rights to climate protection.

Two points of view to look at the rule of law and democracy. So what is essential for democracy? What should a successful balance between the executive, legislative and judiciary look like? And what is necessary to preserve democracy? In the Salon für Grundsatzfragen, two different perspectives on the question of the conditions for the success of democracy will have their say.

With: Philipp Manow (political scientist) and Simone Ruf (lawyer at the Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte)