Constitutionalizing Austerity: Taking the Public out of Public Policy

Abstract Nothwithstanding their failure to achieve stated objectives, austerity policies have been pursued with persistence. Rather than failures prompting reconsideration, there is a clear trend to render austerity policies a permanent, constitutionalized response to economic challenges ‘for all seasons’. This article links the drive to austerity with the ‘new constitutionalism’ literature which depicts procedurally the removal of important …