Constituent Power in Founding Constitutions

Abstract

The author analyses the normative consequences of the relationship between constituent power and constitutional identity in founding constitutions. In the first part of the article, the author points to the centrality of the constitution in the normative integration process of post-communist regimes, while in the second part he analyzes competing constructs of ‘constituent power’ in the modern state building processes in Europe. In the third part the author uses the normative theoretical map of professor Ivan Prpić to analyze the structural deficits of post-communist founding constitutions and the specific form of tension between ‘constituent power’ and constitutional identity. The argument is that this tension can produce both democratic and liberal deficits of these regimes.