Elements of Constitutional Discourse and the Normalization of State of Exception Governance in The Bahamas During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

This chapter generally concerns how elements of liberal democratic constitutional discourse have functioned to normalize emergency and possible state of exception governance during the COVID-19 pandemic. More specifically, the chapter focuses on the transference of legislative power to the executive under conditions of emergency rule and how it is possible for delegated emergency lawmaking to operate beyond the limits of what is constitutionally permissible; thus, triggering a state of exception. The chapter uses the deployment emergency rule during the pandemic in The Bahamas as a case study to show how ambivalence and legal uncertainty were the two principal drivers of the normalization process produced by elements of constitutional discourse, and then further explains how constitutionalism, generally, and in its dysfunctional application, can reinforce the processes normalizing emergency and possible state of exception governance.

Citation

Stevenson, M.T. (2022), "Elements of Constitutional Discourse and the Normalization of State of Exception Governance in The Bahamas During the COVID-19 Pandemic", Bethell-Bennett, I., Rolle, S.A., Minnis, J. and Okumus, F. (Ed.) Pandemics, Disasters, Sustainability, Tourism, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 163-181. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80382-105-420221011