Il Popolo e le élites. Antagonismo democratico e crisi del Costituzionalismo

Abstract

According to a widely debated thesis in recent years, the crisis of contemporary constitutionalism can be partly attributed to populism. It is a theme that, by its very nature, lends itself to the classic framework of antagonism between the people and the élites, yet it is distinct and perhaps not entirely comparable to it. Distrust of political representation is at its core, to the point that one might wonder whether, unlike anti-elitism, populism is in fact compatible with constitutionalism, particularly with democratic constitutionalism. While some scholars believe that liberal constitutionalism would not be affected in its structure by populist movements, elsewhere, on the contrary, populist demands deeply undermine its idea, concept, and prerogatives. In analyses of populism, this representation coexists with another, different thesis, in which its conceptualization as a strategy for reactivating the democratic circuit prevails. The question is, ultimately, if this “democratic populism” can avoid mediation and democratic representation.