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This response to critics gives me the opportunity to develop some aspects of the argument in Authoritarian Liberalism and the Transformation of Modern Europe. I do so by foregrounding the concept of political freedom, articulated by Franz Neumann. Authoritarian liberalism operates by suppressing political freedom and democracy. First making its mark in late Weimar, authoritarian liberalism is constructed in a more passive fashion in the decades after the Second Word War. Although it is contested by social movements in the 1960's and 70's, it is ultimately reinforced in the turn to neoliberalism. This reaches its apogee at the Treaty of Maastricht, with the de-politicization of economic and monetary union and the deepening and widening of the European Union. German ordoliberalism, which functions as an ideological support to authoritarian liberalism, is instructive, but is only a part of this story; Germany is at most 'semi-hegemonic' in Europe. Authoritarian liberalism operates instead through limiting the constitutional imagination in all member states of the Union. I end with some reflections on Walter Benjamin, whose philosophy of history inspired the cover of the book.

This paper is the introductory chapter to Authoritarian Liberalism and the Transformation of Modern Europe (OUP 2021). The book recounts the transformation of Europe from the interwar era until the euro crisis, using the tools of constitutional analysis and critical theory. Interwar liberalism, rocked by mass politics and social inequality, actively turns to authoritarianism in an attempt to suppress democracy, with disastrous consequences in Weimar and beyond. After the Second World War, economic liberalism is restored through a passive authoritarianism: inter-state sovereignty is restrained, state-society relations are depoliticised, and class struggle subdued. This transformation takes time to unfold and it presents continuities as well as discontinuities. It is deepened by the neoliberalism of the Maastricht era and yet counter-movements then also emerge, which are more actively repressed through the authoritarian liberalism of the euro crisis phase. This leads now to an impasse. If the postwar order of authoritarian liberalism has reached its limits, as suggested by the emergence of an authoritarian populism, there is yet to be any definitive rupture.

This paper is the introductory chapter to Authoritarian Liberalism and the Transformation of Modern Europe (OUP 2021). The book recounts the transformation of Europe from the interwar era until the euro crisis, using the tools of constitutional analysis and critical theory. Interwar liberalism, rocked by mass politics and social inequality, actively turns to authoritarianism in an attempt to suppress democracy, with disastrous consequences in Weimar and beyond. After the Second World War, economic liberalism is restored through a passive authoritarianism: inter-state sovereignty is restrained, state-society relations are depoliticised, and class struggle subdued. This transformation takes time to unfold and it presents continuities as well as discontinuities. It is deepened by the neoliberalism of the Maastricht era and yet counter-movements then also emerge, which are more actively repressed through the authoritarian liberalism of the euro crisis phase. This leads now to an impasse. If the postwar order of authoritarian liberalism has reached its limits, as suggested by the emergence of an authoritarian populism, there is yet to be any definitive rupture.

Postwar Europe is partly reconstituted by a fear of democratic freedom, and a desire for political and economic stability. Constitutional relations are transformed over time through a mixture of political authoritarianism and economic liberalism. This takes place in a combination of domestic and supranational developments. The transformation also has a utopian dimension, and outlining its utopianism can help identify its ideological character. It is captured by such related terms as 'postpolitics', 'post-nationalism', 'post-sovereignty' and 'the 'end of history'. These terms all point to the way in which authoritarian liberalism is maintained not only – and perhaps not even predominantly - through coercion and consent but also in the grey area in between, namely through practices and beliefs that suggest politics can be transcended and the medium of law reign supreme. We may call this the new German ideology. It becomes a dominant trope in the European constitutional imagination. Although it is unsettled after Maastricht and enters a critical phase through the financial crisis, the new German ideology remains relatively resilient. It benefits from the support of a critical theory that has lost its moorings, and a political system that is able to incorporate aspects of authoritarian populism, even as the centre ground appears increasingly fragile.