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On Monday, November 22, 2021, Demos21, a year-long series of聽lectures, roundtables and workshops organized by AUP鈥檚 Center聽for Critical Democracy Studies (CCDS), hosted its fourth event of聽the academic year. Guest speakers Carlo聽Burelli聽(University of Genova)聽and Enrico聽Biale聽(University of Piemonte Orientale)聽discussed their forthcoming paper聽鈥淪hould the People Control聽Public Spending? A Normative Assessment of Balanced Budget聽Constitutional Amendments.鈥澛燭he hybrid event saw audience members聽attend both in-person in the Center鈥檚 conference hall and聽online.聽聽

The speakers began by聽discussing the historical context of聽their investigations, noting聽that the last few decades have, in certain Western countries,聽been marked by balanced budget聽constitutional amendments (BBCAs), which聽mandate that states聽do not spend more than聽their聽income.聽These constitutional amendments have had a distinct impact聽on public policy, ushering in an era of聽reduced public expenditure.聽Burelli聽and聽Biale聽particularly emphasized Germany, Austria, Spain,聽France聽and Italy聽in their presentation.聽聽

In the first part of the talk,聽the speakers聽introduced an聽empirical overview of BBCAs and argued聽that聽such policies聽had become ubiquitous. They聽then聽introduced聽the tension between the idea that BBCAs could聽embody democratic ideals by protecting citizens鈥� interests and聽the idea that they undermine democracy by moving important policy聽developments outside of public control.聽They聽went on to analyze聽arguments聽both in聽favor聽of聽and against聽BBCAs. In certain circumstances, BBCAs聽can function as a moderating influence聽in unstable situations by ensuring that a democratic system聽responds to both the short-term interests and long-term needs of聽citizens;聽in others,聽they may in fact result in instability,聽lessened democratic control, and social inequality.聽聽

Burelli聽and聽Biale聽were ultimately sympathetic to the critical聽view, concluding that BBCAs, while potentially justified聽in certain contexts, bring with them high democratic costs. The discussion聽referenced聽in particular the聽work of JM Buchanan, John Rawls, and聽David Harvey.聽Following the presentation, audience members both online and in Paris聽raised questions聽on topics such as聽populism, the importance of聽regionality, and the聽paper鈥檚 place within聽various聽theoretical waves in聽critiques聽of聽neoliberalism.

For more information about upcoming Demos21 events, see the CCDS webpages.