Winds of Change: Comparing the Early Phases of Constitutional Redrafting in Chile and Venezuela

Abstract

This article compares the early phases of the constitutional redrafting processes in Venezuela (1999) and currently in Chile (2021), seeking to identify key factors that help explain the radical constitutional-redrafting path that was followed in Venezuela, versus the more moderate, consensual and rule-bounded transformation underway in Chile. We pay particular attention to the presence of Hugo Chávez as leader of a populist project in Venezuela—an important factor absent in today’s Chile—whilst also taking into account a host of other important considerations that situate these countries’ diverse experiences in their respective socio-political contexts. These factors include the existence of unaddressed historical and social grievances leading to the reform; frustrated efforts at overhauling state institutions or the constitutional text; disparate institutional frameworks to channel reform demands, and different decisions made by the ruling political elites, among other considerations. Our goal is to provide a comprehensive and nuanced comparison that not only helps to understand each case better, but also to think critically about the complex reasons that lead to constitutional redrafting in troubled democracies, with a view to inform our debates on this topic beyond Chile and Venezuela.