Demagogy and democratic loyalty instead oligogy and constitutional patriotism

Antoni Abat Ninet

Research output: Not indexed journal articleArticle

Abstract

This paper is an exercise of legal democratic experimentalism and a defense of the people's role in our judicial and political systems. I use the Catalonian Statute of Autonomy amendment approved by the Spanish Parliament as an example. This reform produced an upheaval in Spanish politics, which seriously affected the confidence of citizens in the whole political system. This case is analyzed with other polarization cases and constitutional court models in order to reach general conclusions about the relationship between democracy and constitutionalism, the demos and constitutional/supreme court. The main objective is to verify that a less democratic constitutional court means more possibilities of polarization. The last issue that arises in this paper is the constitutional/supreme court's lack of democratic legitimacy in modern society. The conclusion is that constitutional/supreme court legitimacy is based on violence.
Original languageEnglish
Pages641-662
Specialist publicationVienna Journal on International Constitutional Law
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2010
Externally publishedYes

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