Comparative Constitutional Reform in Latin America

Richard Albert

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2026
• Print ISBN:
  9781032755090
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781040640920
• Topic: Law
• Subtopic: Comparative Law
• Index: Law

Some constitutional amendments are not really amendments. They are transformative constitutional reforms that reject the essential characteristics of the constitution and destroy its foundations. These constitutional dismemberments demolish the basic structure of the constitution while at the same time building a new foundation rooted in principles contrary to the old. Latin America has been particularly susceptible to constitutional dismemberments. This book draws from law, history, and politics both to demonstrate that Latin American constitutions have been the target of constitutional dismemberment and to explain the social and political forces behind these transformative reforms as well as their consequences. The outstanding contributors to this volume apply the concept of constitutional dismemberment systematically across the region in some of the world's most fascinating jurisdictions for the study of constitutional change: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela. The jurisdictions chosen are among the ones in the region whose constitutions have been most reformed by both proper and improper means. In addition, many of these jurisdictions have been largely neglected in the English language literature on constitutional change. This collection therefore seeks both to remedy this deficiency and, as a consequence, to encourage others to account for them and other little-known constitutions as comparators in their own comparative studies. As such, Comparative Constitutional Reform in Latin America is an invaluable resource for researchers, academics, and policymakers in the areas of constitutional law and politics, legal theory, and public law.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Contributors
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: Constitutional Amendment or Constitutional Dismemberment?
• 1 Argentina’s Constitutional Strain and Institutional Anomie
• 2 Constitutional Dismemberment in Brazil: Perpetuating and Reinforcing Inequality
• 3 Consequences and Limits of Structural Constitutional Dismemberment: The Case of Chile
• 4 Reforming or Dismembering the Constitution: An Approach to Constitutional Dismemberment in Colombia
• 5 The Cuban Constitutional Reforms of 1992 and 2002 as Examples of Constitutional Dismemberment
• 6 The Rules for Constitutional Reform in Ecuador
• 7 War and Peace: The Dismemberment of the Salvadoran Constitution as a Means to Achieve the Peace Agreements
• 8 Through the Looking Glass: Toward a Classification of Constitutional Dismemberments in Mexico
• 9 The Debate on Constitutional Change in Peru: A Critical Vision
• 10 Constitutional Dismemberment in Venezuela: An Authoritarian-Populist Constitutional Change Mechanism
• Index