Sovranità generazionale vs. Costituzione permanente

How can the containment of democratic government in the rule of law and the constitution be justified in terms of democratic legitimacy? This question, which the recent rise of populism has made urgent, is faced in this paper by a critical reconstruction of the chapter 5 of Sandro Ferrara’s Sovereignty across Generations. Ferrara’s position refers to the distinction between the people representing the democratic sovereign expressed by the constitution, and comprising all generations, from the enactment of the constitution on, and the electoral body, representing only the living segment of the people. This paper puts Ferrara’s view in the contest of the longlasting discussion over the perennial constitution vs. generational sovereignty, and concludes that his idea of the people as an abstract transgenerational entity is not necessary to save democracy from the tyranny of the majority. Finally the author considers the notion of generational sovereignty within the literature of intergenerational justice and show its useful function.