Constituent power and constitution-making process in Brazil. Concepts, themes, problems

In a phase such as the present one, which is marked by the crisis of the expansive trajectory of the constitutional state, is it possible to carry out a constitutional history without assuming a retrotopic point of view? The paper takes this question as its starting point in order to identify an innovative potential for research in this field. An attempt to articulate the historical phenomenology of constituent processes will lead to distinguishing, in them, constituent and constituent dynamics. Upon this background, we will explore some interpretative itineraries in Brazilian constitutional history; the focus will be on the ascriptive times of transition, exception, and insurgence. In conclusion, we will look into constitutional issues in present days, highlighting the Brazilian case as a privileged ground for research, so that we may understand in depth the meaning of constituent processes in constitutional history.