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La Suiza de America: Direct Democracy, Anti-Presidentialism, and Constitutional Entrenchment in Uruguay's Constitution of 1918

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2021

Publication Title

I.CON: International Journal of ConstitutionalLaw

Abstract

In Latin America, the drafters of early nineteenth-century constitutions were skeptical of implementing republican forms of government. At the turn of the twentieth century, Uruguay became an exception by bucking this legacy. Under the Swiss-educated reformist José Batlle y Ordóñez (1856–1929), the groundwork was laid for a new constitution that would bring about a secular democratic republic. Indeed, the 1918 Constitution replaced a conservative and centralist constitutional system with a plural executive and a regime of participatory democracy. This article advances a new interpretation of Batllista Uruguay’s distinctive institutions and argues that, despite the 1918 Constitution’s brief endurance, Uruguay’s distinctly republican form of democracy has proven to be an effective mechanism for constitutional entrenchment by virtue of its having helped to create popular support for the rule of law and institutional stability.

Keywords

Direct Democracy, Anti-Presidentialism, Constitutional Entrenchment, Uruguay's Constitution of 1918

Publication Citation

Andrea Scoseria Katz, La Suiza de America: Direct Democracy, Anti-Presidentialism, and Constitutional Entrenchment in Uruguay's Constitution of 1918, 19 I.Con: Int’l J. Const. L. 997 (2021)

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