2009 Articles

Indigenous Movements and Constitutional Reform in Ecuador and Bolivia

Lyubarsky, Andrew

"There can be no doubt that the last several years have been characterized by an unprecedented level of mobilization at the state level against reigning neoliberal development orthodoxy in South America. This has taken a wide variety of forms, with moderate social-democratic left governments who respect existing institutional frameworks arising in Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile, and more radical, populist governments taking power in Venezuela, Bolivia, and Ecuador. The leaders of these latter three countries have used their popular mandates to institute greater societal changes, resting their legacies on new constitutions that would restructure the power balance of their society in important ways. Bolivia and Ecuador, the two countries considered by this study, are unique in their paths toward constitutional change, insofar as wide-ranging constitutional reforms have always been an integral demand of their powerful indigenous movements."--from page 40