THE "POLICY INSTITUTIONALIZATION": IMPASSE BETWEEN CONSTITUTIONALISM AND DEMOCRACY

This article seeks to analyze the apparently conflicting relationship between constitutionalism, commonly understood as a set of limitations on the power of the State, and democracy, conceived as the power of the majority of the population. We claim that constitutionalism is not opposed to democracy; on the contrary, constitutionalism enables, preserves and protects democracy for future generations in the form of prior commitments, here understood as principles and rules agreed upon by the constituents, with a view to political organization, the separation of the powers and the fundamental rights and guarantees. Therefore, using the critical-dialectical method and bibliographic research, we aim to show that the constitutional restrictions imposed by constitutionalism rather than presenting themselves as undemocratic are, in fact, reinforcements to democracy; that is, they can create or enhance freedom, given that constitutionalism not only enables protection but also the very mechanisms of protection of minorities. Finally, we conclude that the establishment of fundamental rights aims to correct some impasses engendered by the representative and majority nature of contemporary democracies.