The question of the clauses imposing restrictions on constitutional change is examined. The main interpretations concerning the problems and paradoxes raised when the question is viewed from the standpoint of the democratic demands are discussed. It is argued that those clauses area reasonable from this perspective whenever they protect the democratic principles of the Constitution. This means that a coherent theory of the supra-constitutional clauses ought to have at its foundations the defence of the conditions which allow the self-government of free and equal individuals on the basis of just procedures. This is applied to the case of the Brazilian Constitution of 1988.