Mechanisms of Constitutional Change in the World

The international experience of the constituent processes shows different mechanisms that have been used for the elaboration of Constitutions, depending on the political circumstances, the political institutional traditions of each country and also on the mechanisms that the same current Constitutions contemplate for said process.

The different mechanisms that have been used worldwide for the discussion and drafting of a new constitutional text are described below.

1) Legislative Power, this name is used to refer to those cases in which the main body in charge of preparing and approving the new constitutional text is the congress or parliament. Parliamentarians can participate in their entirety (Brazil 1988, El Salvador 1992, Korea 1987) or a special commission of parliamentarians can be formed to draft it. The countries that have done so under this last procedure are: Bolivia in 1994, Nicaragua 1995, Angola 2010, Croatia 2000, Greece 1975, Poland 1997, Czech Republic 1993.

2) Constituent Assembly or National Constituent Assembly, is a collegiate body made up of a group of citizens elected by popular vote to exclusively discuss and design a new text and constitutional order and not to exercise legislative powers.

In recent times, the trend has been that the constitutional texts decided and approved by constituent assemblies have been ratified by the citizens through a referendum.

It is the longest way because previously a consultation is needed to decide who are its members and, later, another to approve the text. However, the process has the support of the population, in times of change.

Once they have prepared their work and the constitution enters into force, after approval, their election is without effect and in charge of the legislative power constituted in the last election.

National Congress building, located in the city of Valparaiso, Chile

3) Constituent Commission or Commission of Experts. This type of mechanism refers to those cases in which the institution in charge of the discussion of the contents and the elaboration of the new constitutional text corresponds to a group of experts and persons considered notable in a given society, which generally includes lawyers and / or other professionals related to the area of ​​constitutional law or social sciences.

These could be national and / or foreign experts, and even members of different branches of the State. Unlike the Constituent Assembly, the commission is made up of people appointed and not elected by popular vote.

That designation is usually made by the executive power. The constituent or expert commission is given the power to discuss the contents of the new fundamental carta and the preparation of the text thereof, which must then be ratified, either by the authority or bodies that appointed it, by the legislative power, by the citizens through a plebiscite or referendum, or by more than one of them.

Constitutions synthesize rules and norms that order the social and political coexistence of a community. Until recently, legal theory stated that the longevity of these normative bodies was an essential characteristic of democratic societies, however, comparative studies from the social sciences show that total changes to constitutions occur much more frequently than anticipated.

In fact, between 1947 and 1989, 139 countries wrote new constitutions, while 100 countries did so between 1990 and 2015; And although there are centuries-old constitutional texts, the average longevity of a constitution is only 19 years when we evaluate the behavior of the group of countries in all regions of the planet (Ginsburg, Melton and Elkins, 2010).

 

Furthermore, while in much of the twentieth century the total constitutional changes were linked almost exclusively to changes in the political regime as a result of civil wars, foreign interventions, popular uprisings or institutional collapse, today the number of democracies that decide to promote processes of constitutional change without this being linked to a change of regime (as in the cases of Iceland and Colombia).

Of the 95 constituent processes analyzed between 1947 and 2015, in 25 cases (26%) a constituent assembly was elected to draft the new constitutional text, in 20 (21%) the parliament in office was appointed, in another 9 (10%) a Congress was elected with a specific constituent mandate, in 34 cases (36%) the responsibility was handed over to a commission of experts, and finally 4 (4%) used other mechanisms and in three cases no data was available (3%) .

When we analyze the changes that have been occurring over time, we see that the prevalence of the different mechanisms has changed according to the periods. While between 1947 and 1965 the most used mechanism was the constituent assembly, between 1966 to 1999 expert commissions were used with greater frequency.

In this decade, the constituent assemblies have once again become the predominant mechanism for promoting constitutional changes; used in 7 of the 17 countries that have changed their constitutions between 2000 and 2015.

In relation to the constituent assemblies, it is observed that there is no single model. However, in all the cases analyzed it is a representative institution, similar to a parliament, but which differs from the latter in that it has a specific constituent mandate.

The cases of constituent assemblies analyzed have on average a total of 195 members, with 1 representative for every 250 thousand inhabitants.

Factors to consider in the election of a Constituent Assembly in Chile

As you may know, today (Oct.25th, 2020) in Chile there is a vote to approve or reject the drafting of a new Constitution, which would replace the one created in 1980 under the Military Government of President Augusto Pinochet.

It will also be chosen between two options of bodies that can draft it, a Mixed Constitutional Convention (made up of 50% of parliamentarians and 50% of citizens elected by popular vote) and a Constitutional Convention (made up of 100% of members elected by popular vote).

The risk of the creation of a constituent assembly, similar to the one formed in countries like Venezuela, is that being a body with binding powers, it could make major changes to the laws and institutions in force based only on a circumstantial majority.

CADEM survey conducted between October 9th and 11th, 2019

Without considering that the social demands observed in the massive demonstrations of October 2019, had more to do with improving pensions, education, health, work or attacking crime, rather than making changes or drafting a new Constitution.

The call for a Constituent Assembly at a time of social tension may not be very appropriate. On the other hand, those who promote it with the greatest emphasis (Communist Party and Broad Front) belong to a sector with minimal national representation and with objectives far removed from the interest of citizens.

Until the moment of publishing this article, great interest in attending to vote has been seen in the Chilean population, we hope that the results will serve to appease the spirits of the most radical sectors and carry out the reforms that are needed and thus improve the model which has allowed us to grow in the last decades.

 

Data from the document: Mechanisms of constitutional change in the world - United Nations Development Program (UNDP)

Crisis in Chile: What has changed after a year of social protests ?

Social protests October 2019

Different experts estimated that the Chilean social outbreak was in a "pause" while the country was in quarantine, with the possibility that the protests would be reactivated if the political class did not openly condemn the episodes of violence.

  

It has been 12 months since one of the biggest political-social crises in the history of Chile began. On the political spectrum, the center-right government of Sebastián Piñera has sought to appease the demands of the citizenry with his proposals, including a reform of the Chilean pension system (the so-called AFPs, private system), to which a new Fund of Collective and Solidarity Savings would be added, of a state nature, among other novelties.

For their part, both the ruling party and the opposition continue to campaign for and against a new Constitution, which will be decided in a referendum to be held on October 25th. Despite the fact that an agreement was reached to draw up a new Magna Carta, both political sectors do not seem to have the support of the public, who are crying out for structural changes in the system.

There is no consensual diagnosis of the causes of this social outbreak, nor of its solutions.

La Moneda - Government Palace

Neither the government nor the opposition have a very clear understanding of this phenomenon. An attempt has been made to advance in this, the political world promoted a new Constitution, but the violence continued in the streets for several months before the pandemic, so it is not known if this will be solved.

On the other hand, the Government has tried to increase social spending, improve pensions, give aid bonds and that has not reassured the people either.

The president of Chile, Sebastián Piñera, as well as the Congress have a very poor approval of the citizenship according to the latest polls, mainly due to some corruption scandals, crisis of representation and a tiredness of the political parties that were one of the main reasons for this crossroads.

Although the Chilean social outbreak began with many adherents in the streets throughout the country, as the weeks went by, the protests lost intensity and this was reflected in a drop in the number of people attending the marches, as well as in the rejection of events of extreme violence.

* You might be interested in:

https://csachannel.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-riots-that-shook-chile.html

Ray Donovan - The fixer (2013-2020)

Blog Rating: 9.15 out of 10

Ray Donovan is a professional "problem solver". His job is to sort things out when they get tough for the rich and famous in Los Angeles.

Jon Voight

But when his father Mickey Donovan (Golden Globe winner Jon Voight), an Irish gangster, is released from jail, Ray himself has a problem. Mickey not only wants revenge but he also wants his family back.

Eddie Marsan

The glow of the bright world of Los Angeles is deceptive, because while Ray solves other people's problems, his family has more than enough of his own.

Dash Mihok

Starting with his brother Terry (Eddie Marsan), who suffers from some form of Parkinson's, his second brother Bunchy (Dash Mihok), who still suffers from childhood sexual abuse, and his wife, Abby (Paula Malcomson), who is sick of her husband's secrets. All with very diverse roles but with a brilliant and solid performance.

Paula Malcomson

Liev Schrieber is fantastic in the title role, a dark, violent man under constant stress who protects and cares for those he loves, while at the same time projects an aura of violence and danger to those who cross his path.

In short a very good action drama.

Liev Schreiber

Prison Break - A very well crafted story (2005-2017)

Blog Rating: 9.20 out of 10

This suspenseful action series takes place after Lincoln Burrows is wrongly accused of murder and sent to prison. This will cause Michael Scofield to provoke his arrest by committing an armed robbery to come to the aid of his brother Lincoln.

Dominic Purcell  (Lincoln Burrows)

Burrows is convicted of a murder he did not commit, and is now awaiting execution at Fox River Prison. Michael, his only brother, will do anything to free him.

Michael Scofield is an extremely intelligent, extremely motivated and exceptionally resourceful man. He has stealthily hidden the blueprints and other useful information in his body as a series of elaborate tattoos that reveal his true meaning only to Michael himself.

Wentworth Miller (Michael Scofield)

Once inside, Michael, a structural engineer, begins to execute an elaborate plan to get Lincoln out and prove he is innocent.

As Scofield's plan is put into motion, he must deal with a wide range of inmates, guards, and other characters, all of whom have their own motives and roles to play in the escape.

Sarah Wayne Callies (Sara Tancredi)

In prison, Michael befriends Dr. Sara Tancredi when he pretends to suffer from type 1 diabetes so that he can access the prison infirmary on a daily basis.

Dr. Tancredi begins to fall in love with Scofield, both romantically and because of his lies and deceptions as to why he should visit the infirmary regularly.

Prison Break - Instagram


Each character is extremely well written and acted. Rarely has a show been put together as perfectly as this. A highly recommended series.

Borgen (2010 - 2013)

 Blog Rating: 8.5 out of 10

This political drama begins by recounting the negotiations that the moderate party candidate Birgitte Nyborg must carry out in the Danish parliamentary elections.

As the episodes unfold, it is possible to appreciate the skills that this politician of strong moral convictions demonstrates and that manages to enchant the voters.

Sidse Babett Knudsen as Birgitte Nyborg

Birgitte must exercise her position relying only on a fragile coalition and at the same time, live her family life.

As she advances in her political career, she will have to deal not only with her adversaries but also with her partners and advisers.

Birgitte Hjort Sorensen as Katrine Fonsmark

The various government projects will consume her to the point that she will end up passing the bill on her personal life as well.

It is also possible to appreciate a strong relationship between the government and the press, who use each other to communicate or manipulate reality according to their own interests.

Pilou Asbaek as Kasper Juul 

"Borgen" accomplishes the amazing feat of turning politics into exciting television entertainment.

The mixture of politics, media circus and family drama is staged and transmitted in a very good way.

A captivating series, well produced, with good actors and stimulating for neurons.

In Danish "Borgen" means "The Castle", which is the informal name of Christiansborg Palace
 where all three branches of Danish government reside: the Parliament, the Prime Minister's
Office, and the Supreme Court, and is often used as a figure of speech for the Danish 
government.