The law and political economy of highly detailed constitutional regulations

Lessons from Chile

Abstract

This article analyzes the political economy of highly detailed constitutions, using Chile’s 2023 constitutional process as a case study. Contrary to traditional constitutional theory favoring broad principles that enable future majorities to shape policy, Chile’s second constitutional process approach was markedly different. We argue drafters employed specificity to shield contentious neoliberal economic arrangements from ordinary political debate. By limiting legislative discretion and expanding judicial authority, these provisions ensured fundamental economic policies would be enforced by courts, not decided democratically. This fusion of detailed rules and judicial power represents a distinct constitutional model aimed at circumscribing democratic agency. Within broader Law and Political Economy debates, we contend that such specificity acts less as a guarantor of stability and more as a mechanism of political exclusion, with profound implications for democratic legitimacy.