The Constitution of Totalitarianism

El destino de Sísifo. Régimen político y nueva Constitución en Cuba

“…Ese régimen ha tenido como envoltura y sostén legal un tipo de constitucionalismo afín a sus contenidos autocráticos (Chaguaceda, 2017). Peter Bertholz ha identificado, como rasgos fundamentales del constitucionalismo totalitario, la búsqueda y realización de valores supremos -que trascienden los valores y preferencias individuales autónomas y subordinan cualquier lealtad a otra persona, idea u organización-; la supresión de toda separación de poderes; la exclusividad del máximo liderazgo como fuente del derecho y autoridad para (re)interpretar, a su arbitrio, el verdadero sentido de la ley y el establecimiento de sanciones severas -en el Código penal y en otras normas, a veces no escritas-frente cualquier transgresión de aquella (Bertholtz, 1991). Esos rasgos han sido característicos del orden institucional vigente en la isla; en especial durante el largo período de dominio de Fidel Castro (1959-2006 en la política del país caribeño.…”

Do banking crises improve democracy?

“…Our dependent variable measuring democracy is the polity2 democracy score. This variable comes from the Polity IV database of Marshall, Gurr and Jaggers (2016 (Bernholz, 1991(Bernholz, , 1995.…”

“…A recurring theme in Peter Bernholz's work is the sustainability of a "free society" (Bernholz, 1979(Bernholz, , 1991(Bernholz, , 1995(Bernholz, , 2000. His concern that the interaction between the capitalist system and democracy may result in totalitarianism (Bernholz, 2000) therefore prompted him to investigate the causes of changes in political-economic regimes, "defined by the set of relatively stable and long-lasting rules (including the legal system), rights and government organizations within and through which it operates" (Bernholz, 1995, p.74).…”

“…His concern that the interaction between the capitalist system and democracy may result in totalitarianism (Bernholz, 2000) therefore prompted him to investigate the causes of changes in political-economic regimes, "defined by the set of relatively stable and long-lasting rules (including the legal system), rights and government organizations within and through which it operates" (Bernholz, 1995, p.74). Although he argued that most historical changes of political-economic regimes were continuous evolutionary processes, he also stressed the role of crises as important turning points (Bernholz, 1991(Bernholz, , 1995. In his view, the tendency of democracy to increase the number of regulations and the share of the government in GDP would gradually result in a misallocation of resources, an erosion of the efficiency of the capitalist system, and an eventual crisis.…”

Ideological and real socialism of my Soviet childhood, schooling, and teaching: Multi-consciousness

“…Young people had to learn double-speech (Orwell, 1992): to understand what was said for raising passions and loyalty and to understand what the real limitations of their actions must be. For example, the Soviet propaganda and the Soviet Constitution said that the Soviet Union had freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of press but Soviet reality was drastically different: using censorship, repressions, and prisons to eliminate these freedoms (Bernholz, 1991). Soviet children had to learn to claim these freedoms without any attempt to enact them.…”