ABSTRACT. There is an idealizing function of representation that is intrinsically and deeply democratic and somehow present in all modern democratic constitutions. This paper discloses this function in John Rawls’ theory of political founding and argues that is determinant of his idea of a constitutional agreement. Representation in the constitutional moment entails quite clearly a detachment from social, cultural or religious identity. The representational act of idealizing entails extricating political judgment from the positions people effectively occupy in society. This is the process of idealization or fictional judgment that occurs in Rawls’ Original Position. (pp. 9–19)