Voting and Sentences: Democracy and Rights

Abstract

In a democracy the vote, as a conflict resolution mechanism, presupposes that citizens recognize each other as equals and that they be conscious that their destiny and fate are shared. To complete the democratic vote there exists a third judge: to qualify as such, a state conforming to the rule of law cannot cease to utilize elective-representative institutions nor institutions of jurisdiction. The article suggests some arguments that justify the necessarily mixed character of the constitutional regimes, reflecting the intrinsic limits of the decision-making mechanism through the vote. These limits constitute one of the most important reasons for the constitutional control given to courts.