On the Origins of the Difficulties Faced by Constitutional Democracies (with an Appendix on Democracy, Constitutionalism, Rechtsstaat, Rule of law. Some Historical-conceptual Aspects).

The difficulties faced by Western democracies are one of the most hotly debated topics in contemporary legal and political discourse. This text attempts to identify the origins of these difficulties by highlighting two main aspects: the loss of balance between the constituent elements of constitutional democracies (sovereignty and limits to sovereignty, freedom and solidarity) and the impact of globalisation on national political systems. The analysis of these two aspects, preceded by an examination of some of the main political, social and legal transformations, highlights, on the one hand, the progressive detachment of political choices from constitutional objectives and, on the other hand, the drastic reduction in the decision-making spheres and tasks of states and the very sharp increase in economic, financial and legal constraints on residual decisions. The current process of deglobalisation does not seem to be leading to greater decision-making and intervention space for national democracies. In the appendix, based on R. Bin’s analysis, the German/European model of the Rechtsstaat and the Anglo-Saxon model of the rule of law are compared in order to show that the former has its origins in a focus on social aspects that is lacking in the latter.