The double fiction of the people

In the Constitutions as well as in theoretical discourses, the concept of the people is closely intertwined with that of sovereignty. And both pertain, together with democracy, representation, citizenship, and the rule of law, to the family of ‘ essentially contested concepts ’ . Sovereignty is a concept deeply rooted in the rise of the modern state in Europe, and has been used since then in a range of versions going from omnipotence of the sovereign power ’ s holder, thus conceived as a never-ending source of constitutional legitimacy, to a mere synthesis of the constitutionally established authorities. Whenever structured in these terms, debates prioritise the venerable category of sovereignty over that of the people, which is thus likely to be reduced to a mere successor of the sovereign state.