Constitutional Democracy, Rule of Law and Pluralism

Abstract

Evidence for the significance of reflecting on the interplay between our concepts of democracy and democracies on the one hand and the rule of law on the other is striking in light of the rise of populism across Europe or current events in Catalonia. Some claim that democracy stand above the law others argue that the rule of law is an integrated part of the very concept of a contemporary democracy. These intertwined and contested concepts have both descriptive and normative aspects. Questions arise from the perspective of the philosophy of law (the rule of law and legal positivism), political philosophy (do we have a well-founded contemporary notion of democracy that does not include a constitution based on the rule of law) and moral philosophy (what are the moral preconditions for a well-functioning contemporary democracy). Behind these questions lay the fact that pluralism and reasonable disagreements are defining features of democratic modern societies.