Prospects of Democracy in Modern Constitutionalism

摘要

This article is based on the report at the scientific session of the General Meeting of Members of the RAS on November 13, 2019, and analyzes the fundamental conflict between constitutionalism and democracy expressed in the distrust of constitutionalism in the rule of the people. The elitist nature of modern representative democratic government is shown to cast doubt on the values of democracy. At the same time, the author draws attention to two main trends that determine the prospects for democracy in modern constitutionalism: the efforts of governments to ensure the legal basis for open government and the consolidation of mechanisms for effective civic participation in the exercise of public authority based on rational communicative discourse. In this context, the problems of democracy in Russia are considered.