Fifty Years of Democratic Constitutionalism in Portugal

The development of democratic constitutionalism in Portugal in the last (almost) fifty years has been marked by some important debates, which still influence different views and interpretations of the Constitution. I would like to highlight two of them: first, a discussion of the nature and limits of the ‘constitutional project’ enshrined in the CP, the normative strength of the constitution and the margin of appreciation given to the democratic legislator. Second, the debate about constitutional openness, European integration and the constitutional consequences of the overwhelmingly desired ‘European path’ of the country, which evolved more recently to be a reflexion on the contradictions between such a path and national constitutional characteristics, especially during and after the euro crisis. The objective of this work will be to reflect on the constitutional imaginary of democratic Portugal, in particular on the discrepancies between national constitutional aspirations and European integration, which are particularly acute in what regards the so-called social question (i.e., the social project, including social rights as limits to the legislator, and views of the political economy that are strikingly different at the national and EU levels).