Chairs
Floralba Padrón Pardo floralba.padron@uexternado.edu.co; Humberto Antonio Sierra Porto humberto.sierra@uexternado.edu.co; Josep Maria Castellà Andreu castella@ub.edu

This workshop invites paper proposals exploring the tensions between populism and constitutional democracy in Latin America and Europe. Drawing upon recent experiences in both regions, it proposes to examine how populist leaderships and movements—whether in office or in opposition—challenge the foundations of liberal-democratic constitutionalism through policies and legislative and constitutional reforms. Specifically, this includes the separation of powers,
judicial independence, the protection of fundamental rights, representative democracy, and political pluralism.

The premise is a common observation: the expansion of political practices that, in the name of popular sovereignty, seek to weaken institutional checks and balances, capture technical and judicial oversight bodies, and erode the Rule of Law. We are witnessing a mutation of liberal- democratic constitutionalism, under pressure from models and experiences that blur the boundaries between democratic representation and personalist leadership, whilst
instrumentalising constitutional procedures for counter-majoritarian ends.

Proposals addressing, inter alia, the following topics are welcomed:

• The use of constituent power to justify authoritarian and illiberal reforms.
• Constitutional reforms that bolster the Executive or weaken judicial review.
• Institutional responses to populist leaderships: constitutional courts, parliaments, and international bodies.
• The tension between democratic legitimacy and constitutional legality.
• Differences between inclusive and exclusive populisms and their effects on institutional design.

The workshop is open to theoretical analyses, case studies, and no