Who to trust?
Who to follow?
Who to obey?
These questions are central to our systems of government. A government cannot function if it does not have authority – but that authority is often taken for granted.
Where does authority come from? What is it based on? How is it maintained – or lost? These are the questions which the Foundations of Institutional Authority project will explore.
Our project examines a question that is fundamental to systems of constitutional government: from where do public institutions get their authority?
Constitutional law tends to assume that authority comes from the law: that people comply with an instruction because it comes from an official designated by law.
The goal of the research is to investigate this issue by talking directly to the people whose views shape institutional authority: political leaders, government officials and – most importantly – ordinary people. By asking people their views on the institutions that govern them, the project team hopes to build a better understanding of how constitutional systems actually operate.
The Foundations of Institutional Authority (FIAT) is an interdisciplinary research project based at the Centre for Constitutional Studies in the Sutherland School of Law, University College Dublin and funded by a European Research Council Consolidator grant.
This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 819877)
News & Events
Cracks in the Foundations?
Exploring the Tension Between Constitutional Tradition and Constitutional Culture in the UK on Referendums and Scottish Independence. By Nicky Gillibrand, Somsubhra Banerjee and Eoin Carolan In its Reference ruling on the proposed Scottish independence referendum, the Supreme Court addressed the continued uncertainty over the status and significance of referendums within the UK’s constitutional structures. The […]
Right-wing populism reaches Argentina
By Demian Iglesias Seifert & Somsubhra Banerjee A recent Loop article by Massimo D’Angelo explored the election of right-wing contender Javier Milei in the primary polls. The withdrawal of ex-presidents Macri and Fernandez de Kirchner from the race led to victory for the libertarian nominee. Building on D’Angelo’s piece, Demian Iglesias Seifert and Somsubhra Banerjee contend that this unexpected […]
Sweden Democrats: another win for right-wing populism and illiberalism in Europe?
By Orlaith Rice Frustration with integration policy and fear of crime, two issues which Swedish political rhetoric and public opinion increasingly conflates, fuel the Sweden Democrats’ onward journey into mainstream politics. Orlaith Rice considers where this party sits under labels of populism and illiberalism In her recent piece for The Loop, Gefjon Off discusses how the Sweden Democrats […]