Abstract

RAMIREZ-NARDIZ, Alfredo. NEW LATIN AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONALISM AND PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY: PROGRESS OR DEMOCRATIC REGRESSION?. Vniversitas [online]. 2016, n.133, pp.349-388. ISSN 0041-9060.  https://doi.org/10.n144/Javeriana.vj132.ndd.

The New Latin American Constitutionalism (NLAC) is one of the most interesting phenomena of the present compared constitutional Law. One of its features is the incorporation to the Constitutions of a wide carte of participatory tools that contain the last news of participatory democracy converting those texts in some of the most developed ones in this area. The question is if this incorporation of participatory tools improves democracy or worsens it, if achieves its participatory objectives or if participatory democracy ends or diluted in the representative model or becoming a tool in the hands of rulers that want to strengthen their power weakening the other powers of the State. Does the participatory democracy of the NLAC make a democratic improvement or worsening? This paper, by the analytic-synthetic method and through the compared study of the most relevant doctrine and legislation, tries to give an answer concluding that, although the participatory tools themselves are neutral and it will depend of the will of the actor that active them that they will be positive or negative, participatory democracy means the introduction of a direct participation wedge in a essentially representative model and can be source of imbalances.

Keywords : New Latin American Constitutionalism; participatory democracy; democracy; participation.