Samenvatting

How to define the concept of constitutional democracy? This question has gained more relevance since constitutional democracy is used in Dutch legislation as a touchstone, view for example the obligations on citizenship education. In this article it is argued that openness is of crucial importance when defining or interpreting constitutional democracy, because of the wide variety of approaches of the basic values and interpretation of the concept. Specifically (so it is argued) it is important not to take a liberalism of individual autonomy to be the defining basic value of constitutional democracy.