ABSTRACT
The term "constitutional populism" originated from an analysis of those populisms that had reached a very advanced institutionalized phase and that, once in government, had pursued a constitutional reform in a markedly populist direction. Populism's hostility towards liberal constitutionalism in penal populism manifests itself in the promotion of a delegitimizing vision of the basic principles of classical constitutionalism. Populism refutes the basic structure of constitutionalism, which is based on the separation of powers, an articulation of the mediation of power linked to an articulation of the institutionalized forms of popular sovereignty. Constitutional populism is a deformation of the principles of classical liberal democratic constitutionalism in a leader-based and plebiscitarian vein. The term "constitutional instrumentalism" refers to the instrumental use of the constitutional reform as part of the "occupying state" populist strategy. Constitutional populism represents the most institutionalized phase of populism in a democratic political system.
