Democratic constitutional crowdsourcing and models of digital constitutionalism for public legal communication and constitutional changes

The article discusses the theoretical foundations and applied aspects of democratic constitutionalism; democratic constitutional crowdsourcing and constitutional inclusion in the information and algorithmic society; and the relationship between digital constitutionalism and popular sovereignty, on the one hand, and digital sovereignty and citizen participation, on the other hand. The author discusses scholarly approaches to understanding models of digital constitutionalism in the context of the international debate in comparative constitutional discourse and jurisprudence, as well as the prospects for self-determination of the people in analogue and digital forms of constitutionalism. The study provides a critical analysis of democratic constitutionalism from the perspectives of deliberative participation and digital engagement, various versions of popular constitutionalism, and their relationship with the cult of the written constitution and with judicial review of constitutional laws. It notes that the voice of the people in modern constitutionalism, based primarily on the cult of a written constitution, was not immediately heard, although the appeal to popular sovereignty as a constitutional principle of democratic states is a distinctive feature of popular constitutions. The author analyzes the idea of popular assemblies in modern constitutional theory, which has changed under the influence of digital and information technologies. These citizens’ assemblies are not intended to replace representative government, which itself needs preservation and modernization. Rather, their role is to fulfill the subsidiary but extremely important function of direct citizen participation in discussion and decision-making on publicly significant issues. The article analyzes models of digital constitutionalism in modern Russian and international jurisprudence and in scholarly publications. It covers the prospects for creating intellectual and normative foundations for interactive constitutions and electronic legislation, an international bill of rights on the Internet, legal recognition of information interests and needs, and opportunities for using constitutional crowdsourcing technology to discuss existing constitutional norms and create a new constitution. The article used deliberative and epistemological approaches, methods of formal-legal, concrete-historical, comparative constitutional-legal and complex analysis.