Constitutions Without Constitutionalism: The Failure of Constitutionalism in Brazil

Abstract

Altogether, Brazil has had eight constitutions since the country separated from Portugal in 1822. 2 Most of these constitutions were, in theory, based on liberal-democratic models of constitutionalism by virtue of establishing a bill of rights and a threefold separation of state powers. In following this long, rights-based tradition, which began with the Imperial Constitution of 1823, the current Constituição da República Federativa do Brasil (Constitution of the Federal Republic of Brazil) lists a vast number of human rights, and describes procedural guarantees that ensure that these rights will be fully protected.