The Chilean Constitutional Process (2019–2023): Between Popular Mandate and Political Deadlock
Location:
Teaching Room 03
Old College
Date/time
Wed 14 May 2025
14:30 - 16:00
This event is part of the Edinburgh Centre for Constitutional Law seminar series.
About the event
This talk will examine one of the most significant and complex constitutional experiences in recent Latin American history. Following the social uprising of October 2019, Chile embarked on an unprecedented process to draft a new constitution through democratic, participatory, and inclusive mechanisms. Despite strong initial public support, both the draft produced by the Constitutional Convention and the proposal from the Constitutional Council were ultimately rejected in national referendums.
The talk will explore the legal, political, and social dimensions of this process: the institutional design of the two drafting bodies, the incorporation of gender parity and reserved indigenous seats, the key constitutional debates that emerged, and the challenges posed by political fragmentation and weak public communication. It will also reflect on the broader lessons for contemporary constitutionalism: What are the conditions necessary for building a legitimate constitution in a deeply polarized society?
About the speaker
Antonio Weinberger, lawyer, Associate Researcher at the Pontifica Catolica Universidad de Chile, and LLM candidate at the University of Edinburgh.
This talk is aimed at academics, students, legal professionals, and anyone interested in constitutional change, democratic legitimacy, and citizen participation.
Image credit: Freepik