The Wounds of Constitutionalism: An Editorial

I would like to thank the editors of the University of Bologna Law Review for kindly inviting me to contribute these few pages, which, given the current circumstances, offer readers some rather somber reflections on the future of liberal constitutionalism.Over the last decade, constitutional law scholars have taken a systematic interest in the phenomenon of populism 1 and, above all, in its impact on the structures of constitutional democracy.In doing so, they have used various terms to describe this impact, including "authoritarian reversion," "constitutional retrogression," 2 "democratic backsliding," "constitutional rot," and "constitutional crisis." 3 In academic reflection, scholars have not been limited to dealing with the question of "How to Do Constitutional Theory While Your House Burns Down" 4 ; they have also been trying to address how to "repair" 5 constitutional democracies following an illiberal government.The debate on Poland is particularly instructive in this regard.Even countries regarded as "cradles" of liberal constitutionalism have suffered significant blows to their centuries-old structures.One need only think of what Brexit has meant for the UK constitutional system 6 or the disastrous effects of the two Trump presidencies in the United States. 7 Scholars are also divided on how to respond to these phenomena.On the one hand, some 1 See Corrias's remarks, made only nine years ago, on the lack of interest in populism among scholars of constitutional theory and constitutional law: Luigi Corrias, Populism in a Constitutional Key: