Bolivian Constitution Research Articles

Traditional knowledge in the approach to sustainability: Making sense of Bhutanese gross national happiness and Buen Vivir in Bolivian constitution

In the past few decades, due to the global environmental crisis humanity is facing, a sudden growth in environmental policies and sustainability strategies has been registered. This article discusses two of such policies, namely that of Gross National Happiness (GNH) in the Himalayan country of Bhutan and the inclusion of the concept of Buen Vivir (BV) in the Bolivian Constitution, through a critical analysis—based on political ecology approaches—of their implementation within state policy and their wider implications within the global discourse on the so-called “sustainable development” paradox. This paper highlights the role that the aforementioned policies might play in the path to decolonisation, seeing as how they draw inspiration from their own local contexts and values instead of those provided by the Global North, more specifically focusing on their ancestral and traditional knowledge to supposedly guide the countries’ policy-making process. Although several points of criticism are identified in both policies, innovativeness is detected in their potential to offer alternative views on human wellbeing, both for global southern and global northern contexts, as their original intent would be to remarkably operate outside of the Western framework of development based on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and economic growth. GNH appears to be mostly oriented toward supporting political national budget discussion and allocation, while BV acts at a higher level (constitutional), thus also inspiring overall politics.

Traditional knowledge in the approach to sustainability: Making sense of Bhutanese gross national happiness and Buen Vivir in Bolivian constitution

In the past few decades, due to the global environmental crisis humanity is facing, a sudden growth in environmental policies and sustainability strategies has been registered. This article discusses two of such policies, namely that of Gross National Happiness (GNH) in the Himalayan country of Bhutan and the inclusion of the concept of Buen Vivir (BV) in the Bolivian Constitution, through a critical analysis—based on political ecology approaches—of their implementation within state policy and their wider implications within the global discourse on the so-called “sustainable development” paradox. This paper highlights the role that the aforementioned policies might play in the path to decolonisation, seeing as how they draw inspiration from their own local contexts and values instead of those provided by the Global North, more specifically focusing on their ancestral and traditional knowledge to supposedly guide the countries’ policy-making process. Although several points of criticism are identified in both policies, innovativeness is detected in their potential to offer alternative views on human wellbeing, both for global southern and global northern contexts, as their original intent would be to remarkably operate outside of the Western framework of development based on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and economic growth. GNH appears to be mostly oriented toward supporting political national budget discussion and allocation, while BV acts at a higher level (constitutional), thus also inspiring overall politics.

State Responses to Autonomy Demands: Indigenous Movements and Regional Threats in Bolivia and Ecuador

In this paper, we examine the political factors that explain state responses to demands for indigenous territorial autonomy in Ecuador and Bolivia. Specifically, we aim to explain why the 2009 Bolivian constitution limited indigenous territorial autonomy to the departmental level, not allowing indigenous peoples to establish autonomous regions that lay beyond a single departmental jurisdiction, whereas the 2008 Ecuadorian constitution allows indigenous jurisdictions to exceed provincial boundaries. We argue that, in Bolivia, a strong conservative autonomy movement led by the country's eastern departments forced state officials to negotiate with regional elites, thus limiting the window of opportunity for indigenous movements and their allies to demand territorial autonomy. In the absence of a strong territorialized threat in Ecuador, indigenous movements and their allies had larger windows of opportunity to press their claims for territorial autonomy. This study contributes to comparative research on how states have simultaneously affirmed and limited indigenous autonomy.

L’interprétation présidentialiste de la Constitution bolivienne au cœur de la crise post-électorale de 2019

La crise post-électorale de 2019 peut être analysée comme la conséquence d’une certaine interprétation de la Constitution bolivienne de 2009. Une interprétation présidentialiste, fondée sur le continuisme des mandats présidentiels, a prévalu dans la compréhension et l’application des normes constitutionnelles, que ce soit à travers le juge constitutionnel ou à travers l’organe électoral. Cette interprétation présidentialiste, en remettant en cause la volonté populaire exprimée lors du référendum de 2016, a débouché sur un processus de déconstitutionnalisation qui peut en partie expliquer la crise institutionnelle ayant suivi les élections générales du 20 octobre 2019 et la présidence de facto de Jeanine Áñez.

The Case of Piruani: Contested Justice, Legal Pluralism, and Indigeneity in Highland Bolivia

AbstractThe 2009 Bolivian constitution included provisions that establish a radical form of de jure legal pluralism by creating a parallel legal system that gives full recognition to the nonstate legal orders and forms of conflict resolution of Indigenous communities. This article examines how a land dispute within a Bolivian highland Indigenous community resulted in a disagreement between different local forms of political and judicial authority. This turned on the question of which authorities had the right to judge the case, the nature of justice and indigeneity, and the legal pluralism enshrined in the constitution. Analysis of this situation illustrates not only the internal tensions and paradoxical effects of this juridical project but also the potential limitations of any attempt to formally recognize legal plurality. [legal pluralism, Indigenous justice, usos y costumbres, plurinational state, Movimiento al Socialismo]

Constitucionalismo pluralista, bem viver e vida boa

O presente artigo investiga a unidade de valor entre ética e moral, proposta por Ronald Dworkin, assumindo, como ponto de partida, o constitucionalismo pluralista latino-americano. Para tanto, o bem viver, afirmado pelas Constituições boliviana e equatoriana mediante o resgate da sabedoria indígena ancestral – pelo reconhecimento respectivamente do suma qamaña e do sumak kawsay como fundamentos da ordem constitucional – é problematizado a partir da relação que possui com o desafio de consolidação de uma vida boa que expresse o comprometimento com os valores de liberdade, igualdade e comunidade. Referido objeto demandou abordagem interdisciplinar, com destaque para a interação entre o Direito Constitucional e a Filosofia. Os resultados da investigação apontam para a convergência entre a concepção de vida boa aludida por Dworkin e o bem viver que fundamenta as constituições pluralistas latino-americanas. A pesquisa se insere na vertente jurídico-sociológica para o desenvolvimento de investigação de tipo jurídico-investigativo e técnica bibliográfica. Para consideração das fontes, foi adotado o procedimento de análise de conteúdo, com a predominância de raciocínios dedutivos e dialéticos.

Animal Rights: An approach to the Rights of Nature in Ecuador.

This study seeks to highlight the main historical antecedents of the complex relationship between human beings and animals, bringing us closer towards the material sources that influenced the creation, transformation and / or derogation from different legal regulations that ultimately reduced animals to the realm of things and objects of law. Simplifying the study of the animal question, we will unravel the scarce but relevant bibliography in respect of this, from the various legal regulations of antiquity, through extravagant medieval trials, arriving at unpublished international treaties, constitutions, laws and ordinances that nowadays support the recognition of animal rights. This brief analysis presents varied philosophical, religious and cultural conceptions that allow us to involve ourselves in the wide debate on the main topics of Animal Law that have grown in popularity in recent decades, starting with the publishing of Peter Singer’s Animal Liberation in 1975, and of the initiative of the Universal Declaration of Animal Rights in 1977. Furthermore, we will quickly look over the advances in the recognition of animal dignity, analysing Article 20 of the German Constitution of 2002, the recognition of the Rights of Nature in the Ecuadorian Constitution of 2008 and the Bolivian Constitution of 2009, and the recognition of animals as sentient beings in the Columbian Civil Code of 2016, as well as Ecuadorian regulations on this topic.

Breve introducción al neoconstitucionalismo andino para europeos. Posibilidades e imposibilidades

Recientemente asistimos al décimo aniversario de la promulgación de las vigentes constituciones ecuatoriana y boliviana. En ellas, la influencia de los postulados del neoconstitucionalismo andino es notoria. El presente texto pretende indagar en el régimen de diferencias entre el neoconstitucionalismo andino y el constitucionalismo español, encontrando su justificación en las soluciones alternativas y creativas que la producción teorética andina ha aportado para un conjunto de problemáticas políticas y jurídicas compartidas con España. El interés que puede despertar este trabajo, realizado a partir de las metodologías jurídico-comparativa e interdisciplinar, no es meramente jurídico, sino también político. En primer lugar, argumento la aporía que, en el neoconstitucionalismo andino, existe entre derecho y política. En segundo lugar, trato concisamente la noción de pluriversalidad, la cual nos permite desprendernos del prejuicio eurocéntrico. Por último, desarrollo la comparación entre las cuestiones fundamentales del neoconstitucionalismo andino y el constitucionalismo europeo liberal –plurinacionalidad, multiculturalismo, interlegalidad y naturaleza–. Concluimos que, a pesar de las poderosas diferencias entre la cosmovisión indígena y la tradición cristiana europea, existen notables similitudes entre nuestras respectivas polémicas nacionales, si bien, apriorísticamente, no parece posible implementar las ideas andinas en la sociedad española.

The fall of the Constitution’s political insurance: How the Morales regime eliminated the insurance of the 2009 Bolivian Constitution

Abstract Some scholars argue that constitutions may include an insurance that aims to protect the political rights of prospective electoral losers and prevents a dominant ruling coalition from undermining the competitiveness of the political system. Although some insurance scholars have recently paid more attention to the conditions that make an insurance more likely to be effective, the scholarship seeking to identify the limits of the insurance is still scarce. The literature on courts and democratization may help us to understand those limits by exploring successful and failed experiences. In this article, I argue that after constitution-makers agree to including an insurance, the incumbent regime may delay its implementation or, if the insurance is implemented, the regime may employ different political and legal strategies to eliminate it. I identify some of these strategies using examples from the Bolivian constitutional system. I argue that the Bolivian 2009 Constitution included an insurance and that the Evo Morales regime eliminated it with the help of the Constitutional Court. Although insurance theory expects constitutional courts to guarantee key institutional arrangements, the Bolivian experience shows that constitutional courts may in fact execute the opposite task, and that after constitution makers negotiate and approve an insurance, the challenge is to secure its implementation and survival.

La razonabilidad del artículo 50 de la ley 708 de Conciliación y Arbitraje en relación al principio de celeridad

El año 2015 el Estado boliviano promulgó la ley 708 de Conciliación y Arbitraje en reemplazo de la ley 1770 de 1997. Esta nueva ley establece en su artículo 50 que la duración máxima de la etapa de méritos del proceso arbitral es de 365 días como plazo máximo, mientras la ley anterior establecía un límite de 180 días. Dado que la Constitución Política del Estado promulgada en 2009 reconoce el principio de celeridad como una forma de garantizar una justicia pronta y sin dilaciones, este artículo analiza si esta nueva norma cumple este objetivo. Para este fin, se aplicó el método dogmático jurídico y deductivo. En ese sentido, se examinó si el plazo mencionado cumple con el principio de razonabilidad, evidenciándose que no lo hace, por lo cual es una medida irrazonable e inconstitucional. En consecuencia, se recomienda su derogación.

La limitación constitucional a la reelección de autoridades ejecutivas, su convencionalidad y legitimidad popular: una crítica a la sentencia del Tribunal Constitucional Plurinacional boliviano

This article intends to show that an adequate interpretation of the American Convention on Human Rights, also known as the Pact of San Jose, by the Plurinational Constitutional Court of Bolivia on the re-election of national and subnational authorities, not only would implied the correct application of the Control of Conventionality, but also the creation of a fully compatible sentence with the popular decision expressed in the referendum of February 21, 2016, whose result was to reject the proposed amendment to the Bolivian Constitution in order to include a second re-election of the president and the vice president. Such a decision would have never caused a paradox between popular will (democracy) and conventionality (international human rights law) regarding this particular case.

Los bienes comunes y el buen vivir en el constitucionalismo latinoamericano: de las exclusiones históricas a las inclusiones cuestionadas

Este estudio tiene como objetivo reflexionar sobre las ideas de bien común y de bienes comunes desde la perspectiva constitucional y, en concreto, desde el constitucionalismo latinoamericano. Estas ideas se materializan en el buen vivir, categoría que ha sido recogida por las constituciones ecuatoriana de 2008 y boliviana de 2009. Se trata de constituciones que incluyen otras subjetividades y otras categorías, algunas de las cuales parecen entrar en conflicto con la ideología liberal y el individualismo que sustentan al constitucionalismo europeo tradicional el que ha sido importado por las sociedades latinoamericanas occidentalizadas.

A fruitless attempt towards plurinationality and decolonization? Perplexities in the creation of indigenous territorial autonomies in Bolivia

The new Andean constitutionalism centred around the concepts of plurinationality and decolonization tackles centuries of indigenous subordination and strives for the revaluation of indigenous culture. Territorial autonomy is currently considered a pivotal aspect of materializing these concepts and constitutes one of the most pressing demands of indigenous peoples in Latin America. The revolutionary Bolivian Constitution of 2009 is among the first to offer ways of establishing indigenous territorial autonomies as a form of sub-state territorial authority. Given the legal framework and the fact that three indigenous territorial autonomies (AIOCs) were officially created, Bolivia can be seen as the country with the most advanced conceptualization of indigenous territorial autonomies in Latin America. A closer look at the legal, cultural and administrative realities in Bolivia, however, reveals a different picture. By analyzing national and international law, indigenous cosmovisión and policies for implementation, this article points out six multi-layered perplexities regarding indigenous territorial autonomy, namely (1) the AOICs’ inherent subordination to the State, (2) the irreconcilability of the AIOC-system with indigenous ancestral practices, (3) the hierarchization within demodiversity, (4) the sacrifice of indigenous interests for neo-extractivism, (5) the obstruction of the implementation process by the State and (6) the possible trade-off between de jure and de facto autonomy. We argue that the Bolivian States’ self-imposed objective of overcoming colonialism and establishing plurinationality through AIOCs is not fulfilled. While some of the perplexities identified in Bolivia are clearly related to the MAS’ political-party interests, others have a conceptual and more abstract nature rooted in the contradiction of overcoming colonialism through the State. These findings might also be of importance for decolonization processes in other countries, such as Ecuador.

We, the Mediated People: Revolution, Inclusion, and Unconventional Adaptation

Both radical proponents and legalist critics of popular constitution-making share Carl Schmitt’s definition of the people as outside of, unconstrained by, and superior to all law. “Legalists” cite Venezuela and Bolivia as evidence that unleashing the people facilitates authoritarianism. I turn away from Carl Schmitt and towards Hannah Arendt to retell these countries’ stories and recover an alternative vision of the people’s relationship to law called “extraordinary adaptation.” Even as many of the specific rules of the old institutions are bent, reinterpreted or broken, those institutions are still “extraordinarily adapted” to regulate and give shape to the creation of the new constitution. The process is illegal, but not lawless. The illegality must be principled in three ways: 1. The violator must exhaust all other legal channels; 2. openly acknowledge the violation in search of popular vindication, and 3. concede enough to the opposition so that it may begrudgingly acquiesce to the new constitution. This liminal legal space constructs a plural people that may realize their freedom to break with the past but still stave off the establishment of semi-authoritarian constitutions. I illustrate my theory by comparing the creations of the 1999 Venezuelan and the 2008 Bolivian constitutions. In Venezuela, then president Hugo Chavez plunged the country into a legal abyss to exclude the opposition from the constitutional assembly and create a highly centralized constitution. In Bolivia, by contrast, the extraordinary adaptation of the old constitution led to compromises that garnered the opposition’s begrudging acquiescence to a new constitution that checks presidential power.

Decolonial articulations of gender: queering Buen Vivir in the Tsotsil-Maya documentary film La Pequeña Semilla en el Asfalto

ABSTRACTBuen Vivir is familiar largely due to its integration into the Ecuadorian and Bolivian Constitutions, yet it is also known in the Tsotsil and Tseltal-Maya communities of Chiapas, Mexico as lekil kuxlejal. Its guiding principles offer radical alternatives to socioeconomic and political practices of Western modernity as it shifts focus from anthropocentrism to biocentrism: humans exercise no more dominion over other living beings – such as the earth and its diverse elements – as these living beings exercise over humans. The pillars of Buen Vivir are a coexistence founded in the interconnectedness of all and for all. Nevertheless, this paper highlights that the scholarship written on Buen Vivir, in regards to social relations, largely eludes engaging with non-heteronormative orientations. In this sense, it reinstates a male–female binary and thus follows the heteronormativity of a patriarchal, colonial society. At the same time that this paper questions the gender discourse within the realm of Buen Vivir, it claims that the Tsotsil-Maya documentary film, La pequeña semilla en el asfalto (2009), directed by Pedro Daniel López, veers away from reinforcing heteronormativity and instead articulates a queering of Buen Vivir that proposes a good life for all.

Ethnic rights and the dilemma of extractive development in plurinational Bolivia

The Bolivian constitution of 2009 has been classified as one of the most progressive in the world regarding indigenous rights. The indigenous principles of Suma Qamaña/Vivir Bien/Good Living on the harmonious relationship between humans and nature are established in the constitution. Nonetheless, these rights clash with the constitutionally recognised rights of the nation state to extract and commercialise natural resources (mainly hydrocarbons and mining) under the banner of redistributive justice, welfare reforms and the common good, in this study labelled the dilemma of extractive development. The article is based on ethnographic fieldwork and combines a political economy perspective on the extractive dilemma, while similarly examining the tensions between ethnically defined rights in relation to broader human rights in terms of values and norms related to welfare and conditions of living. The ethnic identity is multifaceted in Bolivia. Large segments of the indigenous population prefer to identify in class terms. The class-ethnicity tensions have altered throughout history, according to changing socio-economic, cultural and political settings. A central argument is that, during Evo Morales' presidency, class-based human rights in practice tend to be superior to the ethnically defined rights, as a reflection of the dilemma of extractive development.

The Integration of Renewables into the Bolivian Energy Mix - Legal Framework and Policies

In Bolivia, a large proportion of the population lives in rural areas, facing considerable challenges, such as low incomes and fuel poverty. Numerous homes and businesses are off-grid, with no access to mains gas, electricity and heat. Renewable energy sources could provide basic supplies for domestic needs. Bolivia has a large potential for producing energy from renewable sources, but unfortunately this potential is only being marginally exploited at present. Since the approval of the new Bolivian constitution, in a referendum in January 2009, there is a concrete mandate to introduce and promote renewable energy and, correspondingly, the state has recognized the advantages of their use, not just in connection with the protection of the environment (avoiding climate-damaging emissions), but also for saving finite resources. Nevertheless, there is still no consistent legal framework available that could trigger the proper implementation of renewable energy. This paper will analyse the current legislation in Bolivia and describe the energy sector. Furthermore, it will argue in favour of a rapid and consistent adoption of proper legislation to embrace the use of renewable energies, thereby avoiding the use of conventional energies and the introduction of nuclear power, as is now envisaged by the Bolivian government. The analysis will indicate the need for an integrated approach to put in place the right policies for the development of energy projects and for the rational use of natural resources to satisfy the socioeconomic need of present and future generations. The paper does not focus on how the new generating capacity based on renewable sources is to be constructed, but on the legal framework and policies.

Research ethics training of trainers: Developing capacity of Bolivian health science and civil society leaders

Program/Project Purpose: The University of San Andres, Faculty of Medicine in La Paz, Bolivia in collaboration with Touro University California, Public Health Program was awarded a NIH Research Ethics Planning Grant in June, 2013 to develop strategies and processes for implementation of a comprehensive national research ethics program for Bolivia. Although the importance of scientific research based on ethical principles is highlighted in the Bolivian constitution and national health legislation, few Bolivian academics, researchers and health professionals have received formal training in the principles and practices of research ethics. A principle aim of the Planning Grant is to develop and implement a Research Ethics Train the Trainers (TOT) course with the goal of training faculty for future implementation of a national research ethics program. Structure/Method/Design: A Project Directors Committee representing public health science universities from four participating Bolivian Departments/States (La Paz; Santa Cruz, Cochabamba & Chuquisaca) was formed to oversee all project activities including implementation of a three day in-personTOT followed by a 10week online training. Training modules utilized materials developed by Bolivian academics and scientists and international research ethics programs at PAHO (PanAmerican Health Organization) and CITI (Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative), University of Miami. TOT University and civil society representatives were selected from each participating Department/State for a total of 26 participants. Upon completion of the training, participants were asked to implement educational research ethics activities in their local communities and institutions. Outcomes & Evaluation: A pre-test/post-test study design was used to assess change in participant knowledge related to research ethics principles and practices. The mean score improved from 73% correct at baseline and 84% at course completion. Participants completed a course evaluation after the in-person and virtual components of the course. Participants highlighted the most useful topics in the course as respect for persons and human rights, principles of bioethics, informed consent and the function of research ethics committees. The most positive aspects of the inperson component of the course were the high level of participation, group work, communication and debate among participants representing different academic disciplines and social sectors. Eighty percent of participants completed the course with five dropping out during the virtual component. Most students reported that the instructions for using the virtual platform were clear and they received sufficient support from the Course Coordinator, however, most stated that some of the teachers provided insufficient academic support. Going Forward: Integrating the group interaction strengths of the inperson TOT component with the flexibility of the virtual component recommends using a mixed methods approach while providing additional training to teachers related to virtual teaching methodologies. Funding: NIH/FIC, International Research Ethics Education and Curriculum Development Award (R25). Abstract #: 01ETC001

El régimen constitucional de los derechos en Bolivia: de la Constitución a la jurisprudencia. Un breve repaso sobre su aplicación

Este es un artículo sobre el desarrollo jurisprudencial de los derechos proclamados en la Constitución boliviana. El artículo se ha limitado a estudiar los aspectos que la jurisprudencia ha considerado formales y, en consecuencia, comunes a todos los derechos de índole constitucional en el ordenamiento boliviano. A cinco años de la entrada vigor de la Constitución de 2009, el Tribunal Constitucional ha desarrollado un vasto cuerpo de jurisprudencia sobre los proclamados por ella. Sin ser un análisis exhaustivo, el artículo pretende sólo hacer un breve repaso de ese desarrollo.

El neoconstitucionalismo andino.Estudio comparado de las Constituciones de Ecuador 2008 y Bolivia 2009 a la luz del Convenio 169 y la Declaración de las Naciones Unidas sobre los derechos de los pueblos indígenas

La Constitución ecuatoriana de 2008 reconoce a la naturaleza sujeto de derechos y a los pueblos indígenas beneficiarios de los recursos que permiten el sumak kawsay en el marco de la libre determinación de los pueblos. Por su parte, la Constitución boliviana de 2009, asume al “indígena originario campesino” sujeto colectivo del Estado plurinacional, y el suma qamaña se constituye en eje transversal de su nueva Constitución. Esta investigación busca relacionar el texto constitucional de estos dos Estados a través de diez variables, tomando de referencia al Convenio 169 sobre pueblos indígenas y tribales en países independientes, y la Declaración de las Naciones Unidas sobre derechos de los pueblos indígenas.