Executive Dominance in Times of Crisis - Governing By Decree and the Pandemic

This book argues that the frequent use of unilateral acts by the executive, exacerbated in times of emergency, can lead to a process of serious democratic erosion. It holds that the unlimited expansion of unilateral action is incompatible with the principle of separation of powers and the basic elements of a constitutional democracy.

List of contents

Introduction. 1. The Executive Dominance and the Marginalization of Parliaments: Governing by Decree. 2. When do Presidents and Prime Ministers rule by Decree? 3. Justifying Uilateral Executive Action 4. Unilateral Executive Action in Times of Crisis 5. Checks and Balances during the COVID-19 Pandemic 6. Constitutional Limits of Decrees in Times of Emergency 7. The legal responses to COVID-19 in Italy, Brazil, and Germany. Conclusions.

About the author

Camila Almeida Porfiro holds a Ph.D. in Public Law from the University of Rome Tor Vergata and a Master's degree in Public Law from the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ). She served as a law clerk at the Brazilian Supreme Court (STF) and was a Visiting Researcher at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) in Germany.

Product details

• Authors: Camila Almeida Porfiro
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 04.06.2025
• EAN: 9781041006213
• ISBN: 978-1-0-4100621-3
• No. of pages: 156
• Series: Routledge Research in Public Law
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Law > General, dictionaries; LAW / General, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Constitutions, LAW / Constitutional, LAW / Public, LAW / Jurisprudence, LAW / Comparative, Political structure & processes, comparative law, Political structure and processes, Constitutional & administrative law, Constitutional and administrative law: general