Los cambios en los procesos de producción del derecho y la modificación estructural del sistema de fuentes ponen en tela de juicio el modelo de derecho diseñado por el positivismo jurídico del XIX, basado en el monopolio legislativo en la creación del derecho y en la consideración de proceso de aplicación del derecho como un procedimiento de subsunción formal. En ese nuevo escenario, el momento aplicativo y hermenéutico del derecho adquieren un protagonismo central. En las nuevas y complejas funciones que (...) asume el intérprete del derecho para tratar de recomponer la unidad y la coherencia de los ordenamientos jurídicos complejos, faltos de plenitud y fragmentados, la recuperación del rol normativo autónomo de los principios jurídicos se convierte en una exigencia imprescindible. El autor ilustra ese renovado papel de los principios con ejemplos del derecho constitucional, el derecho tributario y el derecho procesal civil. (shrink)

This paper focuses on some issues where the process of convergence between analytical and hermeneutic perspectives, with respect to their general philosophical grounds, mainly turns out to be clear. On the analytical side, the overcoming of logical Neopositivism and radical formalism and the rejection of the atomistic theory of reference by holistic theories of meaning have been the core shifts. On the side of the continental philosophical tradition, the main theoretical change lies in replacing the centrality of the subject with (...) the centrality of language, with its links to the dimension of intersubjectivity. Furthermore, the importance given to concepts such as action and intention, mainly due to the Wittgensteinian connection between language and forms of life, has led to recognising the active role of the subject in the world and the ability of language to be a means for doing things and not just a system of signs representing the world. Such a convergence, though it has not yet been reached, seems to be particularly fertile in the legal domain. Here, for example, some outcomes of speech acts theory fit the hermeneutic view of law. (shrink)

“What is and what is defined as populism?” In response to this question the best political theories and philosophies have put forward many different answers, that are taken into account in this article. The article affirms the constitutive ambiguity of the concept of “populism” and its ability to unify very different issues. After analyzing some of the implications that populism entails in practice, the article stresses the link between populism and the end of the logic of the principle of representation, (...) specific of the liberal and democratic theories. The emphasis on the role of the “people” in opposition to the political elites is also a feature of populism, analyzed by the author in this article. In conclusion, the author focuses on the legal field: some of the contemporary constitutional theories, in particular the so-called “popular constitutionalism”, are discussed. These theories, while polemicizing with those authors who overestimate the role of the Supreme Court, reassess the function of the average citizen in the life of constitutional culture, with the intent of favouring greater political participation and strengthening democratic life. (shrink)