Argumentação jurídica e legitimidade democrática da Jurisdição Constitucional

Abstract

The article argues that the theoretical debate on the democratic legitimacy of judicial review must also be focused on the empirical perspective of the decisión-making practice of the Constitutional Courts. After (1) explaining how the recent diffusion of judicial review in the world demanded new theoretical reflections on the relations between constitutional jurisdiction and democracy, the article defends (2) an approach centered on the argumentative practices of the Constitutional Courts. In conclusion, the text presents (3) the Iberian and Latin American institutional context as a suitable “constitutional laboratory” for this type of research.