A "constituição econômica" do estado democrático de direito: direito e economia, uma questão epistemiológico-ideológica

Abstract

Based on the assumption of the non-neutrality of sci-ence and the presence of a certain degree of subjectivity in the definition of its object according to the scientist's valuing pref-erences, it is argued that legal practice and economic policies must assume an epistemological-ideological commitment consistent with the constitutional ideology and not with the interests of the “markets” to the detriment of the “economic constitution” inherent to the constitutionalism of the Democratic Rule of Law. Social inequality is the result of an act of political will based on the belief that the opening of markets and financial deregulation are conditions for economic prosperity, the encouragement of savings and private investments, which imposes the removal of governments from the economy. At the same time, there is a strong tension between the principle of democracy that informs that state model and the foundations of the global economic system, controlled by the financial system and the large transnational corporations. From the illustrative approach of the political and economic function of public indebtedness, a paradox is presented to be faced by jurists and economists committed to the principles and values of contemporary constitutionalism, in conforming public policies and economic policies to the guidelines of the “economic constitution”.