Andrew Arato | The New School University (original) (raw)

Papers by Andrew Arato

American Political Science Review, 1996

Crisis and Reform in Eastern Europe, 2020

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2018

Constellations, 2017

I was interested in Chile even before the Coup of 1973. Like so many others abroad, I was deeply ... more I was interested in Chile even before the Coup of 1973. Like so many others abroad, I was deeply disturbed by the story of the dictatorship and very much encouraged by the way it ended. Even as I recognize the value of all the critiques of the transition and its less than full completion, as well as of the reform policies of post transition governments, I am very impressed by the achievements of the epoch of the Concertación. Given my own professional interests, my work in theory and comparative politics, in this lecture I will address two questions. First, does Chile need a new constitution? And if yes, secondly, what would be the best way to achieve such outcome. The highly political subject area of constitution-making should be studied, in my opinion, from a double point of law and politics. A purely empirical approach that today persuades even many lawyers, tends to lose sight of the object domain and often winds up discovering regularities that the best lawyers and political actors already knew too well. A purely legal approach, however, tends to mistake formal process for the real thing, to disregard the actually operative constitution and come up with artificial distinctions like replacement vs. amendment, which do not represent mutually exclusive possibilities.

The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics

New German Critique, 1980

... that Marxism suppressed or identified with capitalism ever since its critique of Hegel&#x... more ... that Marxism suppressed or identified with capitalism ever since its critique of Hegel's philosophy of ... the ethical-religious opposition Bathrick mentions, one that is anti-statist and anti-capitalist; (4) the ... It is an opposition that aims at the "restoration" of a state of affairs resembling ...

The Journal of Modern History, 1971

The history of the idea of dictatorship represents a powerful confirmation of the idea of the mea... more The history of the idea of dictatorship represents a powerful confirmation of the idea of the meaningful history of concepts. There is indeed an immense gulf between the traditional (ancient to early modern) and modern meanings. The modern revival was powered by the need to conceptualize new social and political realities. It is highly significant, that the term dictatorship clearly triumphed by the 20th century over adversaries that now have a distinctly archaic or anachronistic ring (tyranny, despotism, and autocracy) as well as new competitors that seem to be historically too specific (Caesarism, Bonapartism, and again: autocracy). Having absorbed some features of the rival categories, dictatorship was established because of implicit meanings that plausibly, even if ideologically, link the very different contexts of two fundamentally different “dictatorships”, Republican Rome’s and the contemporary world’s. In my view these linkages have to do with the problems of emergency or extraordinary government, that cannot be avoided as long as we face the issues of maintaining the rule of law, and popular government as well as establishing and preserving republican forms of rule over large territories.

Tikkun, 2015

require a political bargain between an Israeli government and a plausible Palestinian partner tha... more require a political bargain between an Israeli government and a plausible Palestinian partner that included all major forces, otherwise no credible commitments could be guaran­ teed. Moreover, without very strong international pressure, even the relevant negotiations would not take place. Thus one political strategy would involve ratcheting up the pres­ sure on the Israeli government and also on the intransigent elements on the Palestinian side. This strategy could also include agitating for increased international recognition of the Palestinian State by individual states, as well as pass­ ing detailed resolutions aiming at a solution in various inter­ national bodies. A grassroots program of boycotts, divestment, and sanc­ tions aiming at targeted sectors of the Israeli economy — for example, sectors engaged in war production and settle­ ment financing, as well as companies based in West Bank settlements — could also be effective. Boycotting Israeli cul­ tural and academic institutions would be unwise in this context, since calls for academic boycott can result in the advocates of all forms of boycott — including more narrowly targeted boycotts — being branded as anti­ Semitic. Supporting movement toward a federal system within a single territorial state in Israel/Palestine would require a dif­ ferent but certainly not incompatible political strategy. Here the South African example of dealing with a system of legal apartheid could be helpful. After all, the goal of this strat­ egy would be equal citizenship within an entirely new politi­ cal design, and that very thing was accomplished through a comprehensive set of negotiations among an inclusive set of political actors in South Africa. Local political groups such as the African National Congress were the driving forces behind this accomplishment, with external boycotts play­ ing a relatively minor role in moving toward that outcome. Nevertheless, the pressure exerted by the international com­ munity — and especially the international community’s open condemnation of apartheid and its delegitimation of the regime based on the apartheid system — was important. The politics of a campaign to end legal apartheid within the current Israeli control system would require an analo­ gous form of political agency. The recent elections in Israel were disastrous overall, but they did allow for the emergence T he current Israeli government has no interest in any plausible version of a two­ state solution. The cur­ rent government also has no intention whatsoever of affirming equal citizenship of the Arab inhabitants of the West Bank within the overall Israeli control system. So what now? The inclusion of Isaac Herzog in a unity government would not have altered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s interest in the perpetuation of the current state of affairs, which can best be described as either indefinite occu pation or a system tending toward apartheid. Neither is acceptable either morally or in current international law. I agree with Michael Lerner’s creative proposal in this issue of Tikkun: the notion that liberal and progressive Jews should continue to imagine and support both a viable two­ state solution and an egalitarian one within the territorial boundaries of the current control system, the old Palestin­ ian Mandate. There is no need to make a definitive choice between them. Though both outcomes are unlikely in the short or middle term, both remain within the realm of possi­ bility. Depending on the nature of the solutions, either could be just, and there is no moral reason why a larger state of all its citizens would be preferable to two smaller states. In their best versions, the two­ state and one­ state solu­ tions could be seen as converging in some form of federal association of two peoples within the larger territory, as Hannah Arendt once proposed. To overcome doubts about the one­ state, majoritarian solution, it is desirable to think of the one­ state arrangement once again as a federal system that would involve a high degree of autonomy for both peo­ ples, as in the UN Special Committee Minority Proposal of 1947. Conversely, to overcome doubts about the viability of the two­ state solution, it would be important to revive, at the very least, the UN General Assembly’s Partition Plan for an economic union that could become the foundation for some form of political federation as well. We cannot tell today, from a strategic point of view, which of the two options would have more chances of realization or be less utopian in the long term. What is clear, however, is that they would require two different political strategies and two different international roles. A two­ state solution would

Zukünfte der europäischen Stadt

Der Diskurs über die Zivilgesellschaft ist „global“ geworden. Die „Zivilgesellschaft“ ist nun ein... more Der Diskurs über die Zivilgesellschaft ist „global“ geworden. Die „Zivilgesellschaft“ ist nun eines der von Politikern, Akademikern und politischen Aktivisten weltweit meistverwendeten Konzepte und wird herangezogen, um alles zu beschreiben — von Bürgerinitiativen, Freiwilligenverbänden und Wohltätigkeitsorganisationen bis hin zu globalen Netzwerken, NGO’s, Menschenrechtsgruppen und transnationalen sozialen Bewegungen. Tatsächlich ist die Vorstellung von einer transnationalen oder globalen Zivilgesellschaft der Schlüsselbeitrag des

Constellations, 2009

According to Hannah Arendt, "the great and, in the long run, perhaps the greatest American innova... more According to Hannah Arendt, "the great and, in the long run, perhaps the greatest American innovation in politics as such was the consistent abolition of sovereignty within the body politic of the republic, the insight that in the realm of human affairs sovereignty and tyranny are the same." 1 It is very clear that Arendt considers the American abolition of sovereignty to pertain to internal affairs only; first, because she explicitly says "within the body politic," and second because she rightly implies that one of the points of forming a more perfect union by moving from a confederacy to a federal state in 1787 was to enhance external sovereignty. The task was to "reconcile the advantages of monarchy in foreign affairs with those of republicanism in domestic policy." 2 It would be absurd to call this a chance or careless remark, given the correspondence of its thrust with the intentions of the authors of The Federalist Papers that had to be entirely clear to Arendt. 3 But is it possible to leave external sovereignty untouched, while abolishing internal sovereignty? The first part of this essay will explore the meaning of the abolition of sovereignty in Arendt's work (I). We turn next to her conception of the American model of internal sovereignty (II) and then to the tenability of her analysis of the boundary between external and internal sovereignty in the American case (III). We provide an assessment of what is wrong with her model conceptually and historically (IV) and conclude with a proposal for a corrective in the spirit if not in the letter of her work (V).

From Liberal Values to Democratic Transition

Populism and Civil Society

This chapter articulates the impact of the populist logic on the type of movements and parties fo... more This chapter articulates the impact of the populist logic on the type of movements and parties formed. It analyses the dynamics and impact of populist mobilization on competitive party systems in constitutional democracies. It argues that key elements of populist logic—the pars pro toto conception of political representation, the friend–enemy conception of politics, the anti-establishment/anti-elite posture even when in power, and the anti–status quo orientation of populist parties—foster factionalism, severe affective political polarization, the movementization of parties and the evisceration of democratic norms and institutions. Populists create a specific type of catch-all movement-party—one that blurs the distinct logics of social movements and political parties with deleterious effects on political competition. Populist logic prevents populists in government from deescalating their demands; from abandoning their movement style rhetoric, tactics, or posturing; from renouncing ou...

The Habermas Handbook, 2017

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2017

American Political Science Review, 1996

Crisis and Reform in Eastern Europe, 2020

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2018

Constellations, 2017

I was interested in Chile even before the Coup of 1973. Like so many others abroad, I was deeply ... more I was interested in Chile even before the Coup of 1973. Like so many others abroad, I was deeply disturbed by the story of the dictatorship and very much encouraged by the way it ended. Even as I recognize the value of all the critiques of the transition and its less than full completion, as well as of the reform policies of post transition governments, I am very impressed by the achievements of the epoch of the Concertación. Given my own professional interests, my work in theory and comparative politics, in this lecture I will address two questions. First, does Chile need a new constitution? And if yes, secondly, what would be the best way to achieve such outcome. The highly political subject area of constitution-making should be studied, in my opinion, from a double point of law and politics. A purely empirical approach that today persuades even many lawyers, tends to lose sight of the object domain and often winds up discovering regularities that the best lawyers and political actors already knew too well. A purely legal approach, however, tends to mistake formal process for the real thing, to disregard the actually operative constitution and come up with artificial distinctions like replacement vs. amendment, which do not represent mutually exclusive possibilities.

The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics

New German Critique, 1980

... that Marxism suppressed or identified with capitalism ever since its critique of Hegel&#x... more ... that Marxism suppressed or identified with capitalism ever since its critique of Hegel's philosophy of ... the ethical-religious opposition Bathrick mentions, one that is anti-statist and anti-capitalist; (4) the ... It is an opposition that aims at the "restoration" of a state of affairs resembling ...

The Journal of Modern History, 1971

The history of the idea of dictatorship represents a powerful confirmation of the idea of the mea... more The history of the idea of dictatorship represents a powerful confirmation of the idea of the meaningful history of concepts. There is indeed an immense gulf between the traditional (ancient to early modern) and modern meanings. The modern revival was powered by the need to conceptualize new social and political realities. It is highly significant, that the term dictatorship clearly triumphed by the 20th century over adversaries that now have a distinctly archaic or anachronistic ring (tyranny, despotism, and autocracy) as well as new competitors that seem to be historically too specific (Caesarism, Bonapartism, and again: autocracy). Having absorbed some features of the rival categories, dictatorship was established because of implicit meanings that plausibly, even if ideologically, link the very different contexts of two fundamentally different “dictatorships”, Republican Rome’s and the contemporary world’s. In my view these linkages have to do with the problems of emergency or extraordinary government, that cannot be avoided as long as we face the issues of maintaining the rule of law, and popular government as well as establishing and preserving republican forms of rule over large territories.

Tikkun, 2015

require a political bargain between an Israeli government and a plausible Palestinian partner tha... more require a political bargain between an Israeli government and a plausible Palestinian partner that included all major forces, otherwise no credible commitments could be guaran­ teed. Moreover, without very strong international pressure, even the relevant negotiations would not take place. Thus one political strategy would involve ratcheting up the pres­ sure on the Israeli government and also on the intransigent elements on the Palestinian side. This strategy could also include agitating for increased international recognition of the Palestinian State by individual states, as well as pass­ ing detailed resolutions aiming at a solution in various inter­ national bodies. A grassroots program of boycotts, divestment, and sanc­ tions aiming at targeted sectors of the Israeli economy — for example, sectors engaged in war production and settle­ ment financing, as well as companies based in West Bank settlements — could also be effective. Boycotting Israeli cul­ tural and academic institutions would be unwise in this context, since calls for academic boycott can result in the advocates of all forms of boycott — including more narrowly targeted boycotts — being branded as anti­ Semitic. Supporting movement toward a federal system within a single territorial state in Israel/Palestine would require a dif­ ferent but certainly not incompatible political strategy. Here the South African example of dealing with a system of legal apartheid could be helpful. After all, the goal of this strat­ egy would be equal citizenship within an entirely new politi­ cal design, and that very thing was accomplished through a comprehensive set of negotiations among an inclusive set of political actors in South Africa. Local political groups such as the African National Congress were the driving forces behind this accomplishment, with external boycotts play­ ing a relatively minor role in moving toward that outcome. Nevertheless, the pressure exerted by the international com­ munity — and especially the international community’s open condemnation of apartheid and its delegitimation of the regime based on the apartheid system — was important. The politics of a campaign to end legal apartheid within the current Israeli control system would require an analo­ gous form of political agency. The recent elections in Israel were disastrous overall, but they did allow for the emergence T he current Israeli government has no interest in any plausible version of a two­ state solution. The cur­ rent government also has no intention whatsoever of affirming equal citizenship of the Arab inhabitants of the West Bank within the overall Israeli control system. So what now? The inclusion of Isaac Herzog in a unity government would not have altered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s interest in the perpetuation of the current state of affairs, which can best be described as either indefinite occu pation or a system tending toward apartheid. Neither is acceptable either morally or in current international law. I agree with Michael Lerner’s creative proposal in this issue of Tikkun: the notion that liberal and progressive Jews should continue to imagine and support both a viable two­ state solution and an egalitarian one within the territorial boundaries of the current control system, the old Palestin­ ian Mandate. There is no need to make a definitive choice between them. Though both outcomes are unlikely in the short or middle term, both remain within the realm of possi­ bility. Depending on the nature of the solutions, either could be just, and there is no moral reason why a larger state of all its citizens would be preferable to two smaller states. In their best versions, the two­ state and one­ state solu­ tions could be seen as converging in some form of federal association of two peoples within the larger territory, as Hannah Arendt once proposed. To overcome doubts about the one­ state, majoritarian solution, it is desirable to think of the one­ state arrangement once again as a federal system that would involve a high degree of autonomy for both peo­ ples, as in the UN Special Committee Minority Proposal of 1947. Conversely, to overcome doubts about the viability of the two­ state solution, it would be important to revive, at the very least, the UN General Assembly’s Partition Plan for an economic union that could become the foundation for some form of political federation as well. We cannot tell today, from a strategic point of view, which of the two options would have more chances of realization or be less utopian in the long term. What is clear, however, is that they would require two different political strategies and two different international roles. A two­ state solution would

Zukünfte der europäischen Stadt

Der Diskurs über die Zivilgesellschaft ist „global“ geworden. Die „Zivilgesellschaft“ ist nun ein... more Der Diskurs über die Zivilgesellschaft ist „global“ geworden. Die „Zivilgesellschaft“ ist nun eines der von Politikern, Akademikern und politischen Aktivisten weltweit meistverwendeten Konzepte und wird herangezogen, um alles zu beschreiben — von Bürgerinitiativen, Freiwilligenverbänden und Wohltätigkeitsorganisationen bis hin zu globalen Netzwerken, NGO’s, Menschenrechtsgruppen und transnationalen sozialen Bewegungen. Tatsächlich ist die Vorstellung von einer transnationalen oder globalen Zivilgesellschaft der Schlüsselbeitrag des

Constellations, 2009

According to Hannah Arendt, "the great and, in the long run, perhaps the greatest American innova... more According to Hannah Arendt, "the great and, in the long run, perhaps the greatest American innovation in politics as such was the consistent abolition of sovereignty within the body politic of the republic, the insight that in the realm of human affairs sovereignty and tyranny are the same." 1 It is very clear that Arendt considers the American abolition of sovereignty to pertain to internal affairs only; first, because she explicitly says "within the body politic," and second because she rightly implies that one of the points of forming a more perfect union by moving from a confederacy to a federal state in 1787 was to enhance external sovereignty. The task was to "reconcile the advantages of monarchy in foreign affairs with those of republicanism in domestic policy." 2 It would be absurd to call this a chance or careless remark, given the correspondence of its thrust with the intentions of the authors of The Federalist Papers that had to be entirely clear to Arendt. 3 But is it possible to leave external sovereignty untouched, while abolishing internal sovereignty? The first part of this essay will explore the meaning of the abolition of sovereignty in Arendt's work (I). We turn next to her conception of the American model of internal sovereignty (II) and then to the tenability of her analysis of the boundary between external and internal sovereignty in the American case (III). We provide an assessment of what is wrong with her model conceptually and historically (IV) and conclude with a proposal for a corrective in the spirit if not in the letter of her work (V).

From Liberal Values to Democratic Transition

Populism and Civil Society

This chapter articulates the impact of the populist logic on the type of movements and parties fo... more This chapter articulates the impact of the populist logic on the type of movements and parties formed. It analyses the dynamics and impact of populist mobilization on competitive party systems in constitutional democracies. It argues that key elements of populist logic—the pars pro toto conception of political representation, the friend–enemy conception of politics, the anti-establishment/anti-elite posture even when in power, and the anti–status quo orientation of populist parties—foster factionalism, severe affective political polarization, the movementization of parties and the evisceration of democratic norms and institutions. Populists create a specific type of catch-all movement-party—one that blurs the distinct logics of social movements and political parties with deleterious effects on political competition. Populist logic prevents populists in government from deescalating their demands; from abandoning their movement style rhetoric, tactics, or posturing; from renouncing ou...

The Habermas Handbook, 2017

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2017

Co-author, Andrew Arato, In Paul Blokker (ed.), Constitutional Acceleration within the European Union and Beyond (Routledge), 2018

The concept of the constituent power emerged in the revolutions of the 17th and 18th centuries. C... more The concept of the constituent power emerged in the revolutions of the 17th and 18th centuries. Classical theories have implied a strong link between the constituent power and a single organ of the state in which the powers of sovereignty were concentrated. Today we are also able to speak of non-revolutionary forms of regime change and constitution making. Democratic constitutions from Spain to South Africa can now be seen as products of many players -not only representative organs but also round tables and popular involvement -acting through multiple procedures and stages. The plurality of agents involved, raises the question whether international actors too can or should participate. Indeed, international law still insists that constitution making is a purely domestic matter. Given the experiences of Bosnia, Iraq or most recently Hungary and Poland, however, we can no longer neglect the significant role of international monitoring institutions, advisory committees, and courts. Our claim concerns procedural legitimacy in constitutional regime changes. We argue in this paper that learning from the lessons of post-revolutionary constitution making by internal and external actors can greatly help in solving the problem of imperfect procedural justice. We make this case first by comparing revolution and post revolution, and second by highlighting some of the procedural principles of constitution making. We will then consider the legitimate role of domestic and international actors in the non-revolutionary constitution making. We conclude that prior to the adoption of a constitution, international advisory and monitoring bodies as deliberative institutions legitimately take part in the national constitution-making procedure. After the adoption of a constitution, international courts as decision makers may legitimately review the process of national constitution-making and constitutional norms on the basis of universal human rights and constitutional standards.