Abstract
Theories on the popular appropriation of the Constitution linked to the debate on popular and democratic constitutionalism emerge as a reaction to the protagonism of the Judiciary, in particular constitutional courts, in the political system and in the research agendas guided by the juriscentrism of Constitutional Law. The article discusses the applicability and pertinence of these theories in contexts where authoritarianism is gradually advanced by democratic means and with the support of political majorities, and where the Judiciary is no longer perceived as the major concern regarding the constitutional democracy. To this end, the paper seeks to situate the debate on democratization of the Constitution within the broader Brazilian production on social mobilization of law, suggesting reasons for its late development. It recovers the main features of popular and democratic constitutionalism proposals in the United States in the 2000s, their influence in Brazil and Latin America, and the influxes received in these new contexts. It explores the criticisms suffered by this literature and its contribution to a reflection on its applicability and pertinence. Finally, it presents two cases that illustrate some of the aspects discussed throughout the article: the extinction of participatory councils within the Federal Public Administration and the dispute over the meaning of article 142 of the 1988 Federal Constitution, which occurred during the Jair Bolsonaro government.
Keywords:
Popular constitutionalism; Democratic constitutionalism; Diffuse constitutionalism; Authoritarianism