Challenges to the Idea of a Constitutional Polity

This essay defends the claim that democracy-the rule of the people-is only possible by means of a constitution. In John Searle’s analytical approach, democracy is based upon the distinction between regulative and constitutive rules; the latter create institutional realities which increase the capacity of human societies to mobilize their resources most effectively for a good social and political order. A case in point is the concept of the “will of the people,” which populist movements in several liberal democracies have been invoking as the truly authentic source of democratic rule. The author raises the question of whether modern-day dictatorships can be based upon the idea of democracy