Democracy, Constitutionalism and the Question of Authority
In his insightful and thought-provoking article, Walker argues that the relation between democracy and constitutionalism is dialectic: there is an irresolvable tension between democracy and constitutionalism, yet the two also depend on each other. By contrast to theories that hold constitutionalism to be fully compatible with democracy,1 Walker argues that constitutionalism and democracy cannot be completely reconciled. Constitutionalism necessarily draws on non-democratic sources to make it tick. In contrast to approaches that aim to sever constitutionalism from democracy, Walker argues that democracy and constitutionalism supplement each other: constitutionalism is ‘contingently necessary’ for democracy, whereas democracy ‘nourishes and preserves’ constitutionalist discourse.