Constitución de 1991, justicia constitucional y cambio democrático: un balance dos décadas después

Abstract

This article presents an overview of the two-track path towards social transformation undertaken by the Colombian Constitution of 1991. On one hand, this Constitution aimed at a strong constitutionalism through the creation of the Constitutional Court and legal mechanisms for the protection of rights. On the other hand, it proposed a strengthening of democracy through the opening of the political system and the establishment of participation mechanisms. The article evaluates the results of this double aim and shows that the transformative promise was principally carried out by the courts, whereas the consolidation of democracy remains unaccomplished. following this finding, the paper questions the idea that judicial intervention weakens and restricts the path of democracy, based on of four representative cases that illustrate the way the judicialization has played for and not against democratization. However, at the end of the article, the risks posed by the fact that the project of constitutional transformation rests primarily on the courts are pointed out.

Keywords

• democracy
• constitutional justice