Constitutions and Democratic Consolidation: Brazil in Comparative Perspective

Abstract

On 5 October 1988, Brazil promulgated a new constitution of 315 articles. This event was the culmination of twenty months of debate and discussion during which the 559-member Constituent Assembly was the focal point of politics in Brazil. The constitution is the eighth since Brazil became independent in 1822. Since it replaces the Constitution of 1967, amended in 1969, which was imposed by the military regime that governed between 1964 and 1985, most Brazilian political commentators consider it the keystone to the country’s democratic consolidation. This conclusion is based on the open and democratic process whereby virtually all political interests had access to the Constitutent Assembly which was popularly elected on 15 November 1986, as well as the resultant document which stipulates detailed and extensive guarantees of democratic rights and processes.1