🇯🇵 1912-1926 Taisho Democracy, Article 48
- legitimized the possibility of an abuse of power, should a leader choose to use it that way – he is protected of the law and doesn’t run afoul of it; he is above the law constitutionally with no checks or balances
- President Hindenburg himself used the powers between 1930-1932 to push laws through
- paralysis in decision-making because of the constantly-shifting coalitions → he used emergency powers to force across policies
- considered authoritarian and anti-democratic
- he believed in firmly taking charge, the old model of One Strong Man at the head of Germany
- impact – eroded democracy, undermined the confidence of the German people in the democratic system → paved the way for Hitler’s abuse of Article 48, proving that One Strong Man works for German political life
- 1933 – Hitler used Article 48 in light of the 1. Reichstag Fire to clamp down on the Communist and subsequent political parties and pass the Enabling Ac