The rapid progression of Chilean politics over the last few years has been astonishing to behold. It started with an outbreak of mass protest in October 2019. That outbreak, or estallido, led to a national referendum in October 2020 to approve the writing of a new constitution and the election in May 2021 of the constituents charged with writing that new constitution. The year ended with a hard-fought presidential election that made a former leader of the student movement the country's youngest chief executive. Given the boldness with which Chileans are now moving to change the basic rules of their republic, Pablo Ruiz-Tagle's history of Chilean constitutionalism comes at a welcome moment.
Ruiz-Tagle is well positioned to offer such a study. As a practicing attorney, professor of constitutional law, and dean of the University of Chile's School of Law, he has been involved in the country's constitutional debates for...
