"Foreword" [2017] ELECD 900; in Dixon, Rosalind; Ginsburg, Tom (eds), "Comparative Constitutional Law in Latin America" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017) viii

Book Title: Comparative Constitutional Law in Latin America

Editor(s): Dixon, Rosalind; Ginsburg, Tom

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781785369209

Section Title: Foreword

Number of pages: 3

Extract:

Foreword
Manuel Cepeda Espinosa

Comparative constitutional law is a challenging endeavor. It is even more
complex in Latin America, a region that appears homogeneous but in fact
is institutionally very diverse and where the gap between law in the
books and law in action is wide. Formally similar institutions have in fact
different political status, constitutional significance and effective impact
in each country. Rosalind Dixon and Tom Ginsburg should be praised, in
the light of this diversity of real perceptions, actual functions and
outcomes, for inviting the contributors to "take a more fine-grained and
selective approach" and focus "in depth" on important "developments in
a particular subset of countries." Moreover, the contributors, carefully
selected by the editors for their rigorous scholarship and acute insights,
do illuminate the under-explored relationship between constitutionalism,
politics, ideology and leadership.
The context in each Latin American country has enormous weight in
how institutions actually work as do key individuals holding office in the
three branches of government. In some countries, ideological trends have
also shaped not only the configuration of certain institutions, but also the
actual functioning of previously designed ones. A general approach to the
Latin American institutional landscape would be deceptive. The region is
the land of so-called monarchical presidentialism, yet several presidents
have been impeached by Congress quite often or have had to renounce
the presidency due to the impact of effective checks and balances.
Military dictatorships ruled over most of Latin American citizens until
the third wave of ...