In recent years, Brazil has faced a serious political and economic crisis, with very negative impacts on citizen's confidence in democracy and institutions. This situation favored the development of authoritarian discourses and contemptuous behaviors concerning human rights. The work proposes to examine the role that the Brazilian Supreme Court can play for the protection of democracy in this context. It is based on three central arguments. Firstly: The Court should develop a “theory of systemic deficits”, with indicators of when the democratic “frontier” has been crossed. Second: In developing this theory, the Court should seek to dialogue with the “Ius Constitutionale Commune” in Latin America, drawing on its experience of protecting democracy in Latin American countries. Finally: The Court should seek to work on its reputation and engage on a dialogue with civil society, other government branches and international actors, so that it can play this role with strong support.

Our 2020 Annual Conference was scheduled to be held at the University of Wrocław in Poland on July 9-11, 2020.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ICON·S Executive Committee has decided to postpone our 2020 Conference to 2021. Our next Annual Conference will take place from July 8-10, 2021, in Wrocław, Poland.
Procedural details regarding the organization of the 2021 Conference will follow in the months ahead.
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