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Este ensayo reacciona al artículo de George Tsebelis que explica lo difícil que resulta reformar la Constitución de Chile, dados los exigentes requisitos de supermayoría, la cantidad de asuntos cubiertos por protección de supermayoría y el complicado proceso para reformar el capítulo de cómo se debe reformar la Constitución. Reviso la historia de los cambios constitucionales en Chile y muestro que, aunque el proceso sea engorroso, la Constitución ha sido modificada 43 veces desde el retorno de la democracia. Explico que la demanda por una nueva constitución se basa en la ilegitimidad de origen de la Constitución de 1980, pero argumento que los chilenos deberían sentirse orgullosos de haber logrado construir una democracia que funcione pese a las limitantes que ha impuesto una Constitución diseñada para crear una democracia protegida por el tutelaje militar I respond to George Tsebelis’s article that explains how difficult it is to amend the Constitution of Chile given the high majority thresholds for constitutional reforms, the broad scope of issues covered by those high thresholds and the cumbersome process to modify the amendment section. I review the history of constitutional change in Chile to show that, even though constitutional reform is difficult to achieve, it has happened 43 times since democracy was restored. I discuss how the demand for constitutional replacement is based on the illegitimacy of origin of the 1980 Constitution, but argue that Chileans should take pride in having built a full-fledged democracy despite the constraints of a constitution design to create a protected democracy under military tutelage
I respond to George Tsebelis’s article that explains how difficult it is to amend the Constitution of Chile given the high majority thresholds for constitutional reforms, the broad scope of issues covered by those high thresholds and the cumbersome process to modify the amendment section. I review the history of constitutional change in Chile to show that, even though constitutional reform is difficult to achieve, it has happened 43 times since democracy was restored. I discuss how the demand for constitutional replacement is based on the illegitimacy of origin of the 1980 Constitution, but argue that Chileans should take pride in having built a fullfledged democracy despite the constraints of a constitution design to create a protected democracy under military tutelage.
