Majoritarian politics in a consensus democracy: how judicialization of politics helped lay bare the contradictions of Israel’s constitution

The crisis over judicial reform in Israel in 2023 led to concerns that Israeli democracy was under threat from a government and parliamentary majority bent on radical change. From the standpoint of comparative political institutions, this crisis is a puzzle, because Israel is generally understood to be one of the prime examples of “consensus” democracy. We explain the puzzle of consensus-inducing institutions (parliamentary government and proportional representation) yet a “majoritarian” crisis as stemming from various behavioral changes in the party system, and the anomaly of a strong supreme court despite a constitution that is unentrenched (changeable by parliamentary majority). We show how judicial interventionism undermined the mechanisms of Israel’s consensus institutions. Erosion of consensus mechanisms supercharged the polarization and bloc formation which developed in Israel’s party system, and which further undermine consensus democracy. Despite the crisis, we suggest that Israeli democracy is resilient and that its consensus-promoting mechanisms are likely to reemerge.