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Democracy As A Form Of Power: A Regulatory Focus, Enrique Barros Bourie

Enrique Barros Bourie

The essay investigates the regulatory background of the modern constitutional democracy. Its principal theory is that democracy is, above all, a system of government and as such, is inseparable from the need for an established and efficient public power. The paper contests the collectivist idea that wide social consensus could substitute for public decisions. In doing so, it restates the difference between the organic and representative concepts of democracy. It also shows how the constitutional tradition combines with an instrumental and demystified concept of public power. Government is indispensable but also tamable. From this perspective, democracy and the Constitution are …