Theological and Political Roots of Constitutional Modernity

Abstract

In Brazil, are politics and religion arguable? This paper aims to present a new interpretive approach in the political literature of the usual concepts of "constitutionalism" and "constitution" in the "constitutional modernity." It is an effort to explain the historical and semantic roots of these expressions, from the idea that theological conceptions are connected inextricably with the sense of political institutions. The main literature on Political Theology as a scientific object was produced in Germany of the twentieth century and is still undervalued in Brazil. Although the theological-political premise could be doubtful, the reflection on its validity - and its use as a hermeneutic tool of historical concepts - still matters. The definitive diagnosis of constitutional modernity points out to the decline of the semantic power of constitutional concepts and the disintegration of representative institutions. The goal here is to review the primary literature of Political Theology, pointing its evolution and the main conclusions of the main authors, with emphasis on the relevance of these studies as a source of distrust both of euphorical defense of constitutional ideology as of the need for annihilating all civilization gains generated by it. Certainly, there is much to be done to fully understand the decline of the central institutions of Brazilian democracy in the constitutional modernity. This new glance gives only a modest contribution in this pursuit.