PROCESOS CONSTITUYENTES PARTICIPADOS Y FORMA DEL ESTADO

The objective of this paper is to propose a new type of classification of constitutional reform processes, based on the principle of participation. This element, in fact, has been isolated as the common core of the recent experiences analyzed, those of Morocco and Iceland, although the very different cultural and legal backgrounds of the two countries. The classification proposed combines two legal and formal elements and an extralegal one: first of all, a process of total revision of the Constitution; secondly, direct popular participation, in particular during the drafting process; thirdly, an "emotional" evaluation of the degree of popular participation in the process, based on political, economic and social circumstances, so that the latter element makes fluid the classification, allowing the researcher to go beyond the limits of comparability, which would prevent an analysis on a purely positive perspective. This category goes beyond ordinary constitutional reforms and "constitutional maintenance" processes; it recalls the idea of constituent power, not revolutionary in its scope, but within a theory of evolution and development of the Constitutional State, operating at the level of "constitutional culture". It could be applied also in other legal context of "locked constitutionalism", as may be the case in Italy, and can be brought to synthesis also in the theory of transitions, making scientifically fruitful the comparison between Iceland and Morocco.