Revista da EMERJ - V. 21 - N. 3 - Setembro/Dezembro - 2019 - Tomo 1

57  R. EMERJ, Rio de Janeiro, v. 21, n. 3, t. 1, p. 55-71, set.-dez., 2019  TOMO 1 Fourthly, constitutional law differs from ordinary law in rank: it is higher law. In the case of conflict between constitutional law and ordinary law or acts of ordinary law application, constitutional law trumps. What has been regulated in the constitution is no longer open to political decision and the majority rule does not apply. This does not mean a total juridification of politics. Such a total juridification would be the end of politics and turn it into mere administration. Constitutional law determines who is entitled to take political decisions and which procedural and substantive rules have to be observed in order to give these decisions binding force. But the constitution neither predetermines the input into the constitutionally regulated procedures nor their outcome. It regulates the decision-making process but leaves the decisions themselves to the political process. It is a framework, not a substitute for politics. It might be said, finally, that constitutional law is characterized by a certain weakness compared to ordinary law. Ordinary law is made by government and applies to the people. If they do not obey, government is entitled to use force. Constitutional law, by contrast, is made by or at least attributed to the people as its ultimate source and it applies to government. If the government does not comply with the requirements of constitutional law there is no superior power to enforce it. This weakness may differ in degree, depending on the function of the constitution. With respect to the constitutive function the structure of public power will usually conform to the constitutional arrangement. With respect to its function to regulate the exercise of political power this cannot be taken for granted. The historical evidence is abundant. It was this weakness that gave rise to constitutional adjudication, in the United States soon after the invention of constitutionalism, in Europe and other parts of the world only after the collapse of the fascist and racist, socialist and military dictatorships beginning in the 1950s and culminating in the 1990s. Although many of these systems had constitutions, their impact was minimal, and invoking constitutional rights could be dangerous to citizens. In the light of this experience, constitutional courts were generally regarded as necessary to the completion of constitutionalism. If the very essence of constitutionalism is the submission of politics to law, the very essence of constitutional