Francis Cao (Goethe University Frankfurt – Institute for Monetary and Financial Stability (IMFS); Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) – China Institute for Socio-Legal Studies; Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen Nuremberg; University of Pennsylvania Law School) has posted Polycentric Constitutionalisms: The Architecture of Dissent in the Global Political Economy on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
This article reconceptualizes China’s Party-State capitalism as a polycentric constitutional order defined by ongoing conflict and adaptation. Drawing on systems theory and societal constitutionalism, it identifies constitutional conflict-the structured tension among political, legal, and economic subsystems-as a source of institutional flexibility and resilience. The argument advances the idea of dissenting power as a universal mechanism of self-correction, tracing its different forms across liberal, social-democratic, and authoritarian contexts. By moving beyond liberal-centric assessments, the article proposes a pluralist framework that recognizes the internal dynamics of contestation within diverse constitutional architectures. This approach offers a fresh comparative vocabulary to analyze legitimacy, stability, and reform in global constitutionalism.