DEMOCRACY AND CONSTITUTIONAL THEORY : ARGUMENTS FROM JOHN RAWLS’ POLITICAL LIBERALISM

This contribution deals with constitutional democracy within the nor-mative liberal-democratic paradigm. Against the background of Rawlsian political liberalism and its dualist definition of democracy, the chapter aims at providing an overview of some liberal-democratic models such as the Ackermanian and Dworkinian ones. In the same vein, the essay engages normative constitutionalism by widening the discussion to recall two important contemporary legal theorists such as the Italian scholar Luigi Ferrajoli and the American Professor Frank Michelman. Eventually, the chapter will suggest putting in dialogue these authors on fundamental matters of constitutionalism namely the meaning of constitutional democracy, the protection of rights, and the so-called structural entrenchment principle.