ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the Belgian founding fathers’ conception of constituent power in the context of the Belgian Revolution and Constitution of 1830–1831. The first part of this chapter provides a brief analysis of the concept of constituent power and its relation to the notion of sovereignty. The second part brings the concept of constituent power to bear on the 1830–1831 debates in the Belgian constituent assembly, drawing out and clarifying the implicit and explicit conceptions formulated by the congressmen. Do they invoke constituent power as a normative category, as a sociological description of reality, or as a metaphysical concept? Do they rely on the term for merely rhetorical purposes or to pursue a radical political agenda?
