Samuel Alito denounces the drift of American democracy. A criticism that is also reflected in Italy and Europe, where Parliaments count less and less
I believe that the majority of Italians do not know who Samuel Alito is. He is an American Supreme Court justice of Italian origin. Appointed twenty years ago by George W. Bush, he has a reputation for being a conservative. Interviewed before Christmas by Corriere della Sera about the institutional conflicts that have arisen with the new Trump presidency (Congress and many courts contest the decisions taken by the occupant of the White House, accusing him of authoritarianism), Alito clarified the role of the Court in such a complex situation, which sees for the first time in question the principles of a democracy which, this year, is preparing to celebrate its 250th anniversary.
The interview is very interesting, because the judge highlights a degeneration of the system, starting from the controversial decision on abortion. With a ruling that overturned a previous orientation, the Court established that the Constitution is neutral on the termination of pregnancy. It is up to Congress or individual states to legislate on the matter. Alito, in practice, relaunches the role of Parliament, explaining that those around the world who have criticized the ruling have not read what the Supreme Court decided: «Take former Prime Minister Boris Johnson. In Great Britain the law on abortion was approved by Parliament and this is what our ruling on the Dobbs case establishes: the rules on abortion must be passed by members elected by the legislative body, as happens in France. Therefore, they criticized us for having adopted rules in force in their countries.”
The judge, who is among those with the most experience within the Supreme Court, however, also went so far as to criticize the system in which Parliament delegates its functions to the executive: «The Constitution provides for a balance between powers and that laws are made by Congress, that is, by representatives elected by the people. What happened over the course of the 20th century is that Parliament delegated authority to the executive. And now, due to the polarization of the country, it is almost impossible for Congress to pass laws. As a result, executive branch agencies make much of the regulation. And over the last decade we’ve seen a growing trend of presidents increasingly using their power or what they believe is their power.” Who is Alito mad at? With Trump? Not only that. In fact, remember that, in 2014, when the Democrats lost control of Congress, Obama said: “Okay, but I have the pen and the phone.” That is, I can sign and issue executive orders, bypassing Parliament. Since then the White House has begun to govern like this, bypassing Congress. After Obama, Trump and, after him, Biden. Who, explains Alito, made decisions of great importance in precisely this way.
Are you wondering why I have reproduced some excerpts from the interview of the judge of a Supreme Court that is not ours? The reason is that the disease which, according to Alito, affects American democracy has also affected our country and, more generally, Europe. Parliaments do not make the laws. That is, it is not the representatives of the people who decide whether to pass one law or another: it is the institutions, officials, agencies, people who are not an expression of the voters. The bureaucrats of the ministries replace the Chambers, dictating the rules. Those in Brussels do the same. Not to mention the judiciary, which believes it has the right to disapply them as they conflict with other superiors adopted in Europe. Then there is the head of state, whose functions – from those initially recognized by the Constitution – are gradually overflowing, to the point of invading those of Parliament and the executive. Compare the principles enunciated by Alito, regarding the Supreme Court which must not replace Congress and individual states by ruling on abortion, with those adopted by our Constitutional Court, which ordered Parliament to approve a law on the end of life, even dictating the timing, and legitimized the state of emergency and the green pass. Then tell me if what the Supreme Court justice says about the quality of American democracy doesn’t apply to us too. The Charter on which our Republic is founded says that the people are sovereign and exercise their power within the limits established by the Constitution, that is, through Parliament. But the Chambers, which represent the citizen-voters, have gradually been expropriated by institutions, agencies and officials not chosen by the voters, but appointed from above. From the judges who want to decide which laws are to be applied and which to reject, from the presidency of the Republic transformed into a kind of monarchy, from the EU which, despite not having a Constitution, claims to impose rules and principles dictated by bureaucrats, to end up at the Consulta, where former politicians transformed into magistrates decide to change the laws of Parliament. Well, if there is an involution of the democratic system, we, and not the United States, are an example of it.
