What now? Form is substance: a constitutional laboratory and the constituent process in Chile

Abstract

Chile has just concluded two constituent processes. The first one, which took place between 2019 and 2022 — and whose extension was due to the health crisis caused by the pandemic —, ended with the rejection of the proposal by 62% of the citizens. The second, which took place during 2023, ended with the rejection of the proposal by 56% of the citizens. With this, Chile becomes the first country in the world in which two consecutive constituent processes end unsuccessfully. In the words of several commentators and political actors, this represents a failure to replace the 1980 Constitution — for whose replacement an overwhelming 78% voted in favor in 2020 —. This article — in line with some of the literature discussed in this paper — argues that, given the particularity of the constitutional model imposed by the dictatorship, the failure of the constituent processes should be evaluated not in light of the substance or content of the rejected proposals, in which case it is undeniable that they did not achieve their goal, but rather in light of the impact that these processes had in modifying the procedural locks that protected the constitutional oeuvre of the dictatorship.