The European Constitution-Making and the Question of Religion

Abstract

In order to assess the debate concerning the constitutional recognition of Christianity in Europe, we need to pose the more general question of the role (if any) of the symbolic function of the modern democratic constitution in relation to religion. In the present paper, we differentiate between three stylized understandings of constitution-making, namely communitarian, liberal and discursive. Our argument is that the discursive 'model' of the symbolic function of the constitution combines the merits and avoids the demerits of communitarianism and liberalism.