Authors
Max Steuer1; 1 Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Arts, Slovakia Discussion
The relationship between law and populism has been of increasing interest beyond specific disciplines, due to the increasing instances of what is perceived as the abuse of law by populist actors, as well as the contested conceptions of populism in academic discourses. Building on and revisiting existing scholarship, this contribution uses a model- or matrix-building approach to identify and dissect the intersections between populism and law, by identifying two competing approaches to both concepts. Populism, for some, undermines pluralism as the lifeblood of democracy built on aspirations of reducing domination; for others, it allows to challenge dominating elites by exposing the harms they cause to ‘the people’. Law, for some, may equally entrench and reduce domination; for others, law inherently aspires to challenge domination. ‘Legal populism’ entrenches antidemocratic domination with the former conceptualization of populism and of law, while its effects are contingent with the latter conceptualization of populism and the former reading of law. In contrast, an aspirational reading of ‘law’ appears incompatible with either conception of populism because, whilst it allows to declare dominating legalism as illegal, it cannot accommodate populism that conceives of law as an elite-driven endeavour. The contribution illustrates the significance of recognizing this matrix in Slovakia, a country which experienced a semi-authoritarian episode shortly after the 1989 Velvet Revolution (1994—1998) and where de-democratization has been accelerating since the 2023 elections. In the Slovak context, it is argued that the aspirational reading of law finds little footing and challenges to dominating elites have mainly been raised by other elites, often having antipluralist ambitions themselves. Acknowledging such populist appeals as ‘legal’ invites getting lost in the matrix. Instead, the matrix exposes their illegality, which helps identifying responses to antidemocratic dominating practices and elites in Slovakia and beyond. 
