Abstract

This article critically discusses the normative definition of liberal-democratic constitutional theory, by focusing on some of the most significant authors. After a brief introduction, the first section engages normative constitutional theory by recalling John Rawls’ political liberalism and its fundamentals (liberal principle of legitimacy, public reason, the role of the Supreme Court). Rawlsian arguments will be confronted with two alternative liberal-democratic proposals: Bruce Ackerman’s understanding of dualist democracy and Ronald Dworkin’s foundationalist position. Moreover, the second section illustrates two different, albeit normative, liberal-democratic proposals: Frank Michelman’s post-Rawlsian political liberalism and Luigi Ferrajoli’s substantial defence of democracy. This section aims at highlighting similarities between these two models and the theoretical and philosophical-political points they have in common. Eventually, Ferrajoli’s constitutionalism will be discussed, by articulating an analysis of the current crisis of the liberal-democratic model