This conference will examine the relations between the drafting and the interpretation of constitutions and the emergence of populism. To what extent can constitutions be resilient to populist pressures? Can constitutions constrain populist governments? Can constitutions be used to promote populist leaders or governments? How can, if at all, constitutions be designed to address and constrain populist leader?

We will examine these questions both at the theoretical level and at the concrete level. We will examine the rise of populism as such and the interaction between populist politics, the drafting of constitutions and their interpretation. To do so, some of the lectures will be devoted to examining the processes in particular jurisdictions in Eastern Europe and in the Islamic world.