Referendums and Constituent Power

Abstract Referendums are part of constitution-making processes in contemporary political practice in various contexts. They are empirically successful in effectively bringing about constitutional changes. But are they a normatively legitimate way to exercise constituent power? In an attempt to connect debates on referendum processes in democratic theory and in constituent power theory, I argue in this chapter that the defense of referendums as necessary and sufficient to legitimate constitutional decision-making does not withstand scrutiny. However, constituent systems that include constitutional referendums have distinctive qualities over systems that do not—especially in terms of (i) activating and mobilizing constituent power and (ii) expanding the inclusion of citizens—which can contribute to reinforcing the legitimacy of constitution -making processes.