Populist Transformation of Constitutional Law: North Macedonia

This chapter discusses the interrupted process of democratic consolidation and the transformation of constitutional law in North Macedonia, focusing on the characteristics of the rule of the previous Prime Minister, Nikola Gruevski. The country, under his rule, has gone through a process of gradual dismantlement of the system of checks and balances resulting in the domination of executive power, the curtailment of the independence of the judiciary and many violations of human rights. Other characteristics of the rule of Gruevski during 2008–2017 were clientelism and patrimonialism, state-controlled corruption, and an electoral process favorable to the dominant political party, which led to the decay of competitive elections. The chapter points to the transformative effects of populism on the constitutional system of North Macedonia and the difficulty of ‘undoing’ these transformations after the end of the populist government of Nikola Gruevski.