Kostogryzov P.I. The phenomenon of Latin American neo-constitutionalism

Abstract:   Latin American constitutionalism has a rich history. Over the last decades, the constitutional law of the majority of countries of the region experiences a new stage of transformation, which acquired the title of Latin American neo-constitutionalism. The goal of this article consists in determination of the fundamental conceptual characteristics of this phenomenon. The object of this research is the constitutions of several countries of Latin America, adopted after 1985. These documents reflect the political and social processes of the late XX – early XXI centuries: “left turn”, empowerment of Indigenismo, and growth of the political activity among indigenous population. The author carries outs a comparative analysis of the newest constitutions of the countries of Latin America based on the conceptual ideas of the foreign legal experts, who belonged to the school of neo-constitutionalists or their opponents. The conclusion is made that despite the national differences, all of these constitutions have common features, which allow characterizing them as the component of a single phenomenon. In the author’s opinion, the following features are typical to all of the Latin American constitutions of the late XX – early XXI centuries: egalitarianism, pluralism, radical democracy, heightened attention towards the rights of the natives, as well as orientation towards deconstruction of paradigm of nation state that is characteristic to modernity.  

Keywords: