Constitutional states depend on founding solidarity that later generations must renew through participation

Evidence

(1) The constitutional state does not fall from the sky. Rather, it is founded by constituent assemblies that are necessarily informed by a spirit of solidarity, some element of which must also be perpetuated in and with this state. In the social contract tradition, this founding act has been imagined in terms of a transition from the state of nature to the state of society. Philosophers at first came up with quite different motives for this transition. Be that as it may, the two constitutional revolutions that actually took place at the end of the eighteenth century were at any rate historical events that owed their existence to the joint decision and public negotiations of enterprising citizens. Subsequent generations must not squander the social capital of this original founding act. They must make at least modest efforts to constantly renew it through continued participation in the democratic process of political legislation – and sometimes these efforts must even have a counterfactual character (as is the case in Germany, whose Basic Law did not originate in a democratic decision by its citizens). — Jürgen Habermas, A New Structural Transformation of the…, 85

Categorization

• XREF: The ‘social capital of the founding act’ resonates with Coleman’s social-capital framework the reader has examined elsewhere; also echoes the counterfactual-legitimacy problem specific to Germany. — connects to: Democratic legitimacy requires tacit constitutional consensus renewed each generation — Jürgen Habermas, A New Structural Transformation of the…, 66; State spirit means acting in solidarity with past and future generations — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 657; Ambedkar saw the Constitution as a work in progress each generation should remake — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 110 (+4 more)

Related

• Intergenerational solidarity is a political choice, not an automatic bond (similarity 0.84)
• Democratic legitimacy requires tacit constitutional consensus renewed each generation (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• State spirit means acting in solidarity with past and future generations #expands (0.92) — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 657
• Ambedkar saw the Constitution as a work in progress each generation should remake #expands (0.78) — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 110
• Particular solidarities must remain open to universal solidarity. #expands (0.72)