Five major challenges (and just as many threats) for constitutional democracy in the 21st century

Abstract

The article describes five serious clallenges to constitutional democracy in our days, each of them accompanied by a threat to the characteristic trends of this type of democracy. Theese five challenges and threats are: I) The democrartic participation (and the threat of civic estrangement and imposture. II) the efectivity of rights (and the threat of converting them in something trivial. III) The recognition and inclusión of insular groups (and the threat of disintegration and desafection). IV) The constitutional normativity (and the threat of returning to “nominal” constitutionalism. V) The adaptation to new spaces (and the threat of lack of a clear assigment of responsibilities.