Constitutivism and the Rule of Law
Lecture by Prof. Herlinde Pauer-Studer (Universität Wien) within the Lecture Series on “Rule of Law and Democracy” on March 26th 2021 at the Research Centre Normative Orders of Goethe University.
Commentators Prof. George Pavlakos (University of Glasgow) and Carlos Gálvez Bermúdez (Research Centre “Normative Orders” of Goethe University)
The crisis of democracy we face today triggers many questions about the very concept of democracy as well as its interaction with other political ideals.
Some of those who embody this crisis claim to speak in the name of the people and contradict, at the same time, the most basic democratic institutions of Constitutional states. That pushes us to look at one highly contested issue, which is the relation between democracy and the rule of law ideal. Are they based on contradictory principles, and united, paradoxically, in Constitutional Democracies – as Habermas has pointed it out? Are they completely independent one from another – as some other scholars believe? Does it make sense to talk about a democratic rule of law ideal?
The Lecture Series on Rule of Law and Democracy attempts to address this issue from a multidisciplinary perspective. History, Philosophy of Law and Political Philosophy are here brought together to enrich and shed different lights on this old debate that revives once again.
Organized by Dr. María Emilia Barreyro (Postdoctoral Fellow at Normative Orders), Dr. Sofie Møller (Postdoctoral Fellow at Normative Orders) and Carlos Gálvez-Bermúdez (PhD student at Normative Orders)
News from the research center
Article "Ideology and Suffering: What Is Realistic about Critical Theory?" by Amadeus Ulrich published in EJPT
The article "Ideology and Suffering: What Is Realistic about Critical Theory?" by Amadeus Ulrich has just been published open access in the European Journal of Political Theory (EJPT). Ulrich brings the perspective of radical realism into a productive dialog with Adorno's critical theory.
more information ›Prof. Dr. Franziska Fay awarded the Sibylle Kalkhof-Rose University Prize 2025
Prof. Dr. Franziska Fay (Junior Professor of Ethnology with a focus on Political Anthropology at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and former postdoctoral researcher at the Research Center Normative Orders at Goethe University) receives the Sibylle Kalkhof-Rose University Award 2025 in the category Humanities and Social Sciences.
more information ›Ideology and Suffering: What Is Realistic about Critical Theory?
Ulrich, Amadeus (2025): Ideology and suffering: What is realistic about critical theory? European Journal of Political Theory, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/14748851251351782
more information ›New series “Vertrauensfragen” in the Frankfurter Rundschau initiated by Hendrik Simon
Democracy thrives on debate - if it serves the joint search for solutions. There is often a problem with this cooperation. The new FR series “Vertrauensfragen”, initiated by Hendrik Simon (Research Institute Social Cohesion (RISC) Frankfurt location at Goethe University's Research Centre Normative Orders ), examines why this is the case and how we can do better.
more information ›Untrustworthy Authorities and Complicit Bankers: Unraveling Monetary Distrust in Argentina
Moreno, Guadalupe (2025): “Untrustworthy Authorities and Complicit Bankers: Unraveling Monetary Distrust in Argentina”. Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies Discussion Paper 25/3.
more information ›Does deliberative democracy have a future in the age of oligarchs, autocrats and patriarchs?
On June 3, Prof. Simone Chambers will give a lecture on the value of democracies and the future of the form of government.
more information ›Klimaethik. Ein Reader
Sparenborg, Lukas; Moellendorf, Darrel (Hrsg.) (2025) : Klimaethik. Ein Reader. Suhrkamp.
more information ›What can a baroque tapestry tell us about colonial iconography?
Lecture by Cécile Fromone on May 21. The professor at the Department of the History of Art and Architecture at Harvard University, director of the Cooper Gallery at the Hutchins Center and author will talk about the long-forgotten African origins of iconography and its colonial dimension.
more information ›