2. Sovereignty in the Constitutional State

Abstract

The basic categories of our times, including sovereignty and the constitutional state have undergone major contextual changes during the last two centuries. In this paper, the following aspects of this question will be analysed: the balance of power in Europe (I), the contextual changes of sovereignty (II), some contemporary dilemmas concerning sovereignty (III), the insubstantiality for sovereignty (IV), and, finally, the definitions of Rechtsstaat, of constitutional state and of the rule of law (V).