Abstract: Representation is a key institution in any parliamentary democracy and – at the same time – the vulnerable spot in modern constitutional architecture. Governmental decision-making is accepted as expressing general will only if the validity of representation is not questioned. The Romanian political and constitutional crisis of July 2012 stressed the fragility of such an edifice, especially in cases when the stake of current political quarrels takes priority over the supposedly steady endeavour in fulfilling the requirements of the Rechtsstaat. The causes of the crisis and the circumstances of its outcome pertain for the most part to Romanian politics; anyhow the crisis highlighted a potential danger in any modern constitutional system.

Keywords: volonté générale, representation, referendum, Romanian Constitutional Court, Romanian 2012 political crisis, rule of law, unwritten constitutional law, constitutional loyalty