Constitutional precommitment and collective autonomy: Can they be reconciled?

Authors

  • Cristina Foroni Consani Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4013/rechtd.2015.73.03

Abstract

One of the central goals in contemporary constitutional theory is the search for a democratic process that protects individual rights and guarantees from risk, while also defending its own integrity. There is an inherent tension between the concepts of constitution (understood as a mechanism that safeguards individual rights and liberties) and democracy (taken as collective autonomy). Some scholars have tried to reconcile these ideals using the notion of constitutional precommitment that defines a constitution as a self-imposed constraint put into effect by and for the people in order to ensure the fundamental values and conditions of democracy. This paper analyzes the precommitment model in constitutional theory especially according to the current U.S. debate. In the final analysis, adding new elements to this discussion, this work defends that the relationship between precommitment and collective autonomy may be better understood with the redefi nition of the concepts of constitution and democracy.

Keywords: constitutional precommitment, collective autonomy, democracy, people.

Author Biography

Cristina Foroni Consani, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte

Doutora em Filosofia e Mestre em Direito pela Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC). Visiting Scholar na Columbia University (2010). Especialista em Filosofia Política e Jurídica pela Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL). Graduada em Direito pela Universidade Estadual de Maringá (UEM). Professora Colaboradora vinculada ao Departamento de Direito Público da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte. Pós-doutoranda em Direito-UFRN-PNPD/CAPES.

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Published

2015-08-31

Issue

Vol. 7 No. 3 (2015): Setembro/Dezembro

Section

Articles

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