1st Edition
The Law and Politics of Constitution Making Lessons from Chile
Introduction: Analyzing Chile’s Constitution-Making Processes
Eduardo Alemán and Sebastián Soto Velasco
Part I: Political Context and Institutional Design
Chapter 1. Toward an Understanding of the Economic Forces Behind Chile’s Estallido Social
Arturo Fontaine and Sergio Urzúa
Chapter 2. Chile´s Constitutional Processes in Comparative Perspective
Gabriel L. Negretto and Eugenia Artabe
Chapter 3. Citizen Participation in Constitutional Processes: Chile’s Experience (2015-2023)
Francisco Soto Barrientos
Chapter 4. Constitution-Making and Its Discontents: When Political Context Undermines Institutional Designs
Eduardo Alemán and Gabriel L. Negretto
Part II: Perspectives from Constitution Makers
Chapter 5. The Constitutional Convention: The View of a Progressive Independent Delegate
Tammy Pustilnick Arditi
Chapter 6. The Constitutional Convention: The Experience of a Right-Liberal Delegate
Hernán Larraín Matte
Chapter 7. Constitutional Council: Insights from a New Left Reformer
María Pardo-Vergara
Chapter 8. Constitutional Council: Reflections from a New Right Architect
Luis Silva
Part III: Substantive Debates and Draft Content
Chapter 9. Principles: Disagreements and Consensus and Their Impact on Constitutionalism
Catalina Salem
Chapter 10: Expanding the Catalog of Rights in Chile’s Constitutional Processes: When New Rights Open New Risks
Sebastián Soto Velasco
Chapter 11. The Long Road to Recognition: Indigenous Peoples and Constituent Processes in Chile
Manuel Núñez and Alejandra Precht
Chapter 12. Reforming the Judiciary and Constitutional Tribunal
Lydia Brashear Tiede
Chapter 13. Recrafting the Political System: The Endurance of Chile’s Presidentialism
Andrés Dockendorff, Christopher A. Martínez, and Rocío Saez-Vergara
Part IV: Empirical Perspectives on Behavior and Attitudes
Chapter 14. Out with the Old, Out with the New: Vote Choice During the Constitution-Making Period in Chile
Eduardo Alemán, José M. Cabezas and Ernesto Calvo
Chapter 15. Roll Call Votes in the Constitutional Writing Processes in Chile, 2021-2023
Patricio Navia and Francisco Roldán
Chapter 16. Beyond Parties: Assessing Ideological Representation in the Chilean Constitutional Convention
Jorge Fábrega
Chapter 17. Switching Off: Political Attention and News Consumption in the 2022 Referendum
Carolina F.T. Batista and Ernesto Calvo
Conclusions
Eduardo Alemán and Sebastián Soto Velasco
Biography
Eduardo Alemán (PhD, Political Science, UCLA) is Professor of Political Science at the University of Houston, USA. His research focuses on the comparative analysis of political institutions and Latin American politics.
Sebastián Soto Velasco (LLM, Columbia University, and PhD Law, Universidad de Chile) is Associate Professor at the Law School of Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, and researcher in the Centro de Estudios Públicos (CEP). In the second constitutional process, he served as Vice-President of the Expert Committee (2023).
'Chile’s two recent attempts to draft a new constitution were among the world’s most closely watched and consequential constitutional developments of the past decade. Both drafting processes were thoughtfully designed and highly participatory, yet ultimately unsuccessful. The Law and Politics of Constitution Making: Lessons from Chile brings together reflections from leading constitutional scholars, social scientists, and direct participants in those efforts. The volume offers the most comprehensive examination to date of what transpired, why it failed, and what the world can learn from Chile’s experience.
Adam Chilton, Dean and Howard G. Krane Professor of Law, University of Chicago Law School
'This interdisciplinary volume provides extraordinary insight into Chile’s two recent failed constitution-making episodes, including perspectives by leading academic experts and insiders to both processes. This is an indispensable resource for anyone interested in understanding the Chilean processes, and the complexities of constitutional change more broadly.'
David Landau, Tobias Simon Eminent Scholar Chair, Florida State University College of Law
'This book is a major contribution to global understanding of the challenges of making a new Constitution in the 21st century. Written by Chile specialists from diverse perspectives, it demonstrates how social, political, and legal context shape processes and determine outcomes. A fascinating study; not to be missed.'
Cheryl Saunders, Laureate Professor Emeritus, University of Melbourne, Australia
'The Law and Politics of Constitution Making is a remarkable book: It focuses on the most spectacular, highlighted, iterated, and aborted process of constitutional revision and replacement of the twenty-first century. It involves the positions and analyses of academics, experts, and practitioners. It covers the different stages of the project. It explains how the agenda setters (constitution-making bodies) selected extreme political proposals which led to two rejections of constitutional drafts and the final survival of the Pinochet constitution after its solid rejection by referendum by the Chilean people. A book highlighting the fascinating details of a very controversial and complicated political process.'
George Tsebelis, Anatol Rapoport Collegiate Professor of Political Science, University of Michigan, USA
