7 THE ITALIAN LAW JOURNAL NO. 1 (2021) Questioning Representative Sovereignty: by Giuliano Vosa The Italian constitutional order is undergoing a slight but salient shift as regards the role of the Head of State, who is called on to take delicate political positions while acting as a liaison between the national and supranational stages. DOI 10.23815/2421-2156.ITALJ ISSN 2421-2156
The Italian Head of State in ‘Post-State’ Constitutional Law
This work aims to investigate this shift and its consequences to analyse how a State’s constitutional structure evolves as confronted with the post-State reality. Starting with an account of ‘representative sovereignty’ to locate Heads of State in contemporary parliamentary governments, it takes as reference a speech delivered by the President in 2018 and examines in this light the constitutional practices of the last ten years as well as some of the most recent activities involving the President. The picture the work aims to paint exposes the ties between the national and supranational levels.
Whether this picture coheres with the overall national constitutional architecture is doubtful; however, the fundamentals of ‘representative sovereignty’ as accounted for in the introductory part no longer work well together, and this challenges some of the cornerstones of contemporary constitutionalism.
