ABSTRACT
The chapter presents a periodization of Latin America’s constitutional history and highlights how the political circumstances and needs of each period framed specific legal demands, generating in turn distinct institutional features. Focusing on several countries, the article discusses key contributions of leading legal scholars in each of these historical periods and shows that, despite regional trends in the contributions to constitutionalism, there were also significant differences between countries. Despite such differences and the specific contributions discernible for each period, the author claims that Latin American constitutional history shows two major continuities: first, a power structure that is politically concentrated and territorially centralized; and second, a generous and extensive declaration of rights that combine individual and social rights.
