Parties and Constituent Power

Abstract This chapter explores the role of political parties as potential bearers and mediators of constituent power. The chapter first discusses the familiar objections that parties cannot legitimately claim constituent power because they (i) belong to the constituted state powers and (ii) only speak for a subsection of the people rather than the people as a whole. Having demonstrated that these concerns are less weighty than might at first appear, the chapter then distinguishes two generic forms of partisan constituent power, namely (i) revolutionary and (ii) ordinary partisan constituent power, which can make themselves felt in both domestic and transnational settings. The chapter’s final section examines risks and pitfalls of partisan constituent power, concluding that elite capture remains the primary democratic threat inherent in partisan attempts to shape and reshape constitutional orders.