ABSTRACT
On the one hand, dystopian works present the disturbing reality of the current Western order under a perfected authoritarian or totalitarian rule; on the other hand, apocalyptic literature explores the deterioration of our known reality beyond recognition after the breakdown of the current order and triumph of anarchy. If representative democracy seems exhausted, political scientists have detected a variety of frontal attacks on governmental effectiveness and, thus, to democracy itself. Moreover, they have proposed different solutions, depending on the diagnosis. In addition to the embodiment of the separation doctrine, the aforementioned conceptual shift originated from the merging of two, originally disparate, concepts: ‘democracy’ and ‘representation.’ Intentionally manipulating a number of heterogenous elements, the Founding Fathers have sought to frame the US constitution as a modern federal republic, governed as a form of representative democracy, which acted upon the new altered meaning of power flowing from the people rather than power exercised by the people.
