ABSTRACT
The analysis so far has focused on the predominant pattern of constitutionalization in the new democracies, informed by legal constitutionalism, and a latent but not insigni¼cant counter-pattern of civic constitutionalism. It is undeniable that the former has been supreme in the post-1989 years of transformation, even if not uncontested. But if we agree that the legal-constitutionalist view is generally grounded in a distrust of democratic politics, and an institutional bias towards judicial supremacy, entrenched rights and rigid constitutions, then constitutional forms that invoke (the importance of ) civic participation, civic access to (constitutional and democratic) institutions on a variety of levels and constitutional openness towards (civic) politics, can be taken as counter-trends of civic constitutionalism (cf. Albert 2008). At the same time, it is hard to deny that these trends of civic constitutionalism remain fairly weakly institutionalized in all countries discussed (even if some relevant and signi¼cant traditions exist, as indicated in Chapter 4). In this, while potentially providing the basis for a further deepening of democratic constitutionalism in the region, civic constitutionalism is subject to various pressures, including external as well as domestic ones.
