The Voice of the Underground People: Reinterpretations of Political Representation in the Constitutional Tradition of Being-in-Common

Abstract

Communitarian constitutionalism emerged as a response to the crisis of representation caused by individualist liberalism and authoritarian corporatism in the 20th century. Its roots lie in the 1949 Argentine Constitution, which articulated a vision of the
“national being” and affirmed the people’s self-determination as the foundation of political legitimacy. This framework extends beyond the mere organization of power, recognizing the community as an active political subject and promoting collective rights and structural social justice. In contrast to the liberal paradigm, which begins with the isolated individual, the communitarian model is grounded in belonging to a historical and cultural community. Law is thus understood as the expression of a collective will. While the 1949 Constitution did not incorporate mechanisms for functional representation, this gap was addressed in the 1951
Constitution of the Province of President Perón, which acknowledged social organizations as legitimate political actors within the representational structure. This model offers a substantive alternative to party-centered democracy by advocating for more inclusive and participatory forms of political engagement rooted in the country’s social reality. Confronted with contemporary challenges, communitarian constitutionalism invites a reexamination of institutional frameworks of representation and participation, aiming to recover the Nation’s foundational identity and foster a collective political subject in shaping the legal and social order.