The Constituent Dynamic and the Two-Level Game in Chile

Bibliographic Data

ID24225283
AuthorsClaudio Fuentes (0000-0002-2379-2229, Diego Portales University), Pedro Valenzuela (0000-0002-0641-0858, Diego Portales University), Francisca Carril Cares (0000-0002-4519-3470, Center for Intercultural and Indigenous Rights)
Year2026
Volume61
Issue1
Pages80-99
Publication date2026-03-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLatin American Research Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0023-8791 • E-ISSN: 1542-4278
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/lar.2025.10104
OpenAlexW7128481771
LanguageEN
References cited15

Chile has undergone two consecutive failed attempts at constitutional replacement (2021–2022 and 2023), positioning it as a globally interesting case. While existing literature identifies macropolitical and institutional factors underlying such failures, certain key causal mechanisms remain unexplored. This article addresses the central question of why majority-controlling political actors, aware of the need for broad national consensus, ultimately fail to achieve it. Framed as a two-level process—one at the elite negotiation level and the other at the electoral ratification level—this study elucidates the mechanisms operating at each stage that contributed to this dual failure. By analyzing these dynamics in detail, the article offers valuable lessons for future efforts to replace a constitution in a democratic setting.

Chilean Constitution · Constituent Assembly · constitutional ratification · constitutional replacement · democratic constitutionalism · elite negotiation · national consensus · two-level game · Comparative constitutional jurisprudence studies · Political and Social Dynamics in Chile and Latin America · Political Dynamics in Latin America

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