Crises da democracia no tempo presente: algumas críticas ao consenso liberal sob a perspectiva jurídico-constitucional

Abstract

Abstract: This article provides a critical assessment of contemporary debates surrounding the crises of democracy, based on a dialogue among Adam Przeworski, Manuel Castells, Yascha Mounk, David Runciman, Roger Eatwell, and Matthew Goodwin, bringing the discussion closer to the constitutional-law field. The debate is organized around four main axes: definitions of the concept of democracy and their implications for understanding its crises; the structural roots of the crisis of liberal democracy; the role of social media in transforming the communicational and political landscape of contemporary societies; and the uses of populism as an interpretive framework for understanding democratic decline. It is argued that, despite their differences in approach, the authors analyzed share a tacit liberal consensus regarding the concept of democracy, which tends to naturalize the liberal-representative form as the only possible one, thereby obscuring the structural contradictions that generate a state of permanent crisis. The article therefore argues that a legal reading of democratic crisis cannot be restricted to electoral regularity, but must also consider the preservation of the Democratic Rule of Law, fundamental rights, and the material conditions of political participation.