Two Hundred Years of Latin American Constitutionalism: Promises and Problems

Speaker(s): 
Roberto Gargarella (Universidad Torcuato di Tella/Leverhulme Trust Visiting Professor, UCL Institute of the Americas)
Date: 
11 February 2014

In this paper, I provide an analytical framework in order to understand the development of Latin America's constitutional structure - and its limits. First, I want to present the main constitutional traditions that appeared in the region since the Independence, and then examine some of the difficulties generated by the dominant constitutional model. In particular, I want to suggest that the implementation of social rights has been undermined by the absence of substantial political reforms.

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