The neoliberal deconstruction of the social and democratic state: the Spanish constitutional transformation through Article 135

Abstract

This article advances an interdisciplinary theoretical framework by synthesising constitutional law with Bob Jessop’s Strategic-Relational Approach to examine how neoliberalism reconfigures the State’s normative foundations. Rejecting formalist and purely instrumentalist legal views, it conceptualises the Constitution not as a static text, but as a dynamic social relation and a site of structural selectivity that currently privileges capital accumulation over social redistribution. The study identifies three mutually-reinforcing processes driving neoliberal constitutionalism: desocialisation , which erodes social rights and countercyclical spending capacity; de-democratisation , which shifts decision making from national parliaments to unaccountable supranational market spaces; and technocratisation , which depoliticises economic governance by framing ideological choices as neutral expert solutions under a ‘there is no alternative’ logic. This framework is applied to an empirically-grounded case study of the 2011 ‘express’ reform of Article 135 of the Spanish Constitution. The analysis reveals that the amendment was a direct response to external mandates from the European Central Bank rather than domestic democratic deliberation. By constitutionalising strict deficit limits and establishing absolute priority for public debt repayment, the reform effectively subordinated the social state’s commitments to market confidence and creditor interests. Ultimately, the article concludes that while the constitutional block has been deeply transformed to secure neoliberal hegemony, it remains a vital arena of democratic contestation where social forces can mobilise to reaffirm social rights and reclaim democratic sovereignty.