Constitutional State Powers

This chapter scrutinizes the rival envisionings of state institutions in the debates of the Constituent Assembly held between May and September 1978. Three aspects are of special relevance in that regard. First, popular and national sovereignty were presented as synonyms even though the Constitution only enshrined national sovereignty. Second, centrist and right-wing representatives accepted the rule of law as mainstay of democratic institutions against the distrust of regional nationalist parties. Third, the Constitution was regarded as the best instrument to protect individual and social rights. Fourth, constituent representatives of centre-right, centre and centre-left thought that the legislative power and, especially, the judiciary should be safeguarded against the executive power by setting constitutional limits to each branch. An independent judiciary was the precondition for a legitimate constitutional state.