Crisis Authority, the War on Terror and the Future of Constitutional Democracy

Abstract

Italian political philosopher Giorgio Agamben has predicted the decline of liberal democracy at the hands of an overreaching executive in all present day democratic political systems. According to Agamben, crises, and the use of exceptional authority, or “the state of exception” as coined by Carl Schmitt, have allowed the executive branch to acquire legal powers beyond its original purpose, and this is eroding the balance of powers and checks on authority. To dispute this claim, I investigate the War on Terror, which Agamben cites as having led to “pure de-facto rule” (Agamben, 2005). I explore the acceptance of exceptional authority by the public, the exact legal violations of the president, the termination of the exception and the subsequent legal recovery. I suggest that, based on present day circumstances, Agamben’s predictions may be heavy handed.