The 2026 Tang Prize in Rule of Law has been awarded to Professor Bruce Ackerman, Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University, in recognition of “his intellectual leadership in developing new conceptions of constitution-making, judicial review, and the structures needed for democratic constitutional governance, offering conceptual and practical approaches to defend the rule of law amid the crises facing modern republics. His comparative engagements and passionate commitment to understanding constitutional legitimacy and popular sovereignty, exercised across generations, have inspired constitutional lawyers around the world in their pursuit of social justice and the rule of law.”
Professor Ackerman’s contributions to the rule of law center on his groundbreaking theory of “dualist democracy.” He distinguishes between two modes of politics in a constitutional democracy: “normal politics” that can be found in the everyday operation of the constitutional system, and “constitutional politics” that is forged through high citizen mobilization in tandem with the activation of constitutional mechanisms, thereby establishing a new constitutional paradigm. Under “constitutional politics,” when citizen mobilization reaches its peak, forming a decisive consensus that is later institutionalized into the constitutional order through constitutional mechanisms, it gives rise to a “constitutional moment.” In times when the constitutional order is challenged or paralyzed, the synergy between citizen mobilization and constitutional mechanisms offers a pivotal opportunity to forge a new consensus and guide the nation out of gridlock. This theory provides an essential analytical perspective for the current challenges facing both the constitutional order of the United States (U.S.) and contemporary democracies.
The operation of “constitutional politics” has citizen mobilization at its core. To increase the deliberative capacity of society and to enhance equal participation, Professor Ackerman has proposed numerous innovative ideas. In his books Deliberation Day (with James S. Fishkin) and Voting with Dollars (with Ian Ayres), respectively, he advocates for a national holiday before elections to institutionally encourage public discussion and rational debate on pivotal issues, and proposes the provision of a small amount of political capital to each voter for anonymous donation to candidates, thereby preventing the democratic process from being monopolized by massive political contributions. The proposal of “deliberation day” has subsequently inspired deliberation initiatives and mechanisms in the U.S. and other countries such as Mongolia.
Professor Ackerman’s intellectual reach is also deeply grounded in the realm of social justice. He advocates for the equality of all citizens, viewing them all as “stakeholders” in society. He argues that the state must address the material inequalities that prevent citizens from becoming full political actors. To this end, through the institutional design of resource distribution, he proposes that the state provide equal capital to young citizens. This ensures that all citizens start from the same baseline and possess sufficient economic resources to take part in the public reason process, thereby enabling effective democratic participation. His book The Stakeholder Society (with Anne Alstott) has inspired relevant policy initiatives in countries such as the United Kingdom and Brazil.
Professor Ackerman’s efforts to bridge theoretical breakthroughs with real-world institutional solutions have been so substantial that their impacts are extensive, particularly when confronting contemporary challenges facing the rule of law. In his book Before the Next Attack, he introduces the concept of an “emergency constitution,” which provides a constitutional foundation for emergency powers while ensuring a system of checks and balances that enables a proper return to the normal constitutional order once the crisis has passed. This concept subsequently inspired the relevant reform of emergency powers in the French constitution.
Professor Ackerman was raised in the Bronx, New York, U.S. Following his graduation from Yale Law School, he began his legal career clerking for Judge Henry J. Friendly of the U.S. Court of Appeals and Justice John Marshall Harlan II of the U.S. Supreme Court. He later devoted himself to academia, and since then has been active in legal scholarship and education for decades. Along the way, he held faculty positions at the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University, and currently serves on the faculty at Yale University.
Professor Ackerman’s scholarship integrates perspectives of different disciplines such as law, politics, history, and economics. His influential trilogy, the We the People series, led to his receiving the Henry M. Phillips Prize for lifetime achievement in jurisprudence from the American Philosophical Society. His books The Uncertain Search for Environmental Quality (with Susan Rose-Ackerman, James W. Sawyer, Jr. and Dale W. Henderson) and Social Justice in the Liberal State, respectively, received the Henderson Prize of Harvard Law School and the Gavel Award of the American Bar Association. Professor Ackerman is also a Commander of the French Order of Merit, Member of the American Law Institute, and Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
As a leading global thinker, Professor Ackerman guides the transformation of democratic constitutional governance through his grand theoretical framework and forward-looking vision. As a responsive legal scholar, Professor Ackerman commits himself to bridging theory and practice, proposing numerous pioneering pathways to address contemporary crises in the rule of law. As a dedicated educator, his quest for popular sovereignty and constitutional legitimacy constantly reminds us that the constitution is an ongoing dialogue. In an era interwoven with crises, Professor Ackerman’s thoughts continue to inspire generations of constitutional lawyers around the globe, guiding all toward a more inclusive, resilient vision of the rule of law.
About the Tang Prize
Since the advent of globalization, humanity has enjoyed unprecedented benefits from advances in civilization and science. Yet a multitude of challenges, such as climate change, the emergence of new infectious diseases, the widening wealth gap, and moral degradation, have surfaced along the way. Against this backdrop, Dr. Samuel Yin established the Tang Prize in December 2012. It consists of four award categories: Sustainable Development, Biopharmaceutical Science, Sinology, and Rule of Law. Every two years, four independent and professional selection committees, comprising many internationally renowned experts, scholars, and Nobel laureates, choose Tang Prize laureates who have made substantive contributions and generated a far-reaching impact on the world, regardless of race, nationality, gender, or religion. A cash prize of NT$50 million (approximately US$1.6 million) is allocated to each category, with NT$10 million (approximately US$320,000) of it being a grant intended for research or educational outreach programs to encourage professionals in every field to examine mankind's most urgent needs in the 21st century, and become leading forces in the sustainable development of human society through their outstanding research outcomes and active civic engagement.
