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The View of Autopoiesis with regard to the Constitution

Authors

  • Germano Schwartz Centro Universitario La Salle

Abstract

The present essay claims -on having found evidence of questions about the constitution as the highest norm of the juridical arranging- for a study of the superior law from another point of view i.e., the autopoietic-systemic, given the inadequacy of the traditional juridical models regarding the position of a fundamental law in the context of current society. This essay starts from the premise that constitution can be understood only based on functional differentiation between political and legal system, representing this the structural coupling between both systems. In this sense, the autopoiesis of constitution operates through self-reference, having at the same time an openness to other subsystems. Kelsen's constitutional hierarchy no longer responds to the aspirations of a risk and uncertainty society. The decisional circularity adapts and transforms the constitution from its own legal elements based on a new logic, more suitable to answer to the communication influences of other social subsystems. In this line of reasoning, the superiority of the constitution and its character of fundamental law are not information for a static definition. Such features are (re)constructed inside the system from its own internal logic.

Keywords:

Social systems, Legal system, Constitutions, Autopoiesis

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