Latin America possesses an enormously rich constitutional history, but this legal history has only recently begun to be subjected to scholarly inquiry. In Latin American Constitutionalism (1810-2010), Roberto Gargarella provides a broadly comparative and landmark history of Latin American constitutionalism, informed by constitutional theory.

Preface ; Chapter 1: The first Latin American Constitutions (1810-1850) ; Chapter 2: "Fusion constitutionalism": the liberal-conservative compact at the second half of the 19 ; Chapter 3: The material basis of the Constitution ; Chapter 4: The limits imposed by the past upon the new Constitutions ; Chapter 5: The crisis of the post-colonial constitutional model. Positivism and revolution, at the beginning of the new Century ; Chapter 6: Constitutionalism at the mid-20 ; Chapter 7: Grafting social Rights onto hostile Constitutions ; Chapter 8: Contemporary constitutionalism I. Constitutions in internal tension ; Chapter 9: Contemporary constitutionalism II. The "engine room" of the Constitution ; Chapter 10: What have we learned in 200 years of constitutionalism? For an egalitarian constitutionalism ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Index

An original book and one of the first serious intellectual attempts to identify common features shared by the constitutional experience of all countries in the continent. Roberto Gargarella is affirming the existence of a "Latin American constitutionalism" and his book can be the cornerstone of a new field of study in constitutional law and constitutional theory.

"Roberto Gargarella provides a panoramic view of the structures of Latin American constitutionalism in the nineteenth century, and then shows how those structures were both preserved and transformed in the constitutional reforms of the twentieth and early twenty-first. This is a major contribution to the field."--Mark Tushnet, Harvard Law School "A breathtaking panorama of 200 years of Latin American constitutionalism. The central argument-that implementation of social rights is impeded by the absence of political reforms-will undoubtedly provoke widespread debates well beyond Latin America."--Adam Przeworski, New York University "An extraordinary achievement. Gargarella-widely recognized as one of the best constitutional scholars of our time-has come up with a path-breaking analysis of the Latin American constitutional tradition. Examining the constitutional issues that Latin American statesmen and jurists have dealt with in the last two centuries, Gargarella identifies patterns and insights which greatly illuminate our understanding of Latin America's constitutional trajectory. He skillfully links constitutional history, constitutional theory, and socio-legal analysis in a work destined to become canonical in the field of comparative constitutional law and theory. This is an indispensable book not only for scholars of Latin American constitutionalism and history, but for anyone interested in the current processes of constitutional reform in the region."--Javier Couso, Universidad Diego Portales Law School (Chile) "Roberto Gargarella has written a wonderful, remarkably sweeping, forcefully argued book on Latin American constitutionalism. Drawing together philosophy, political science, history, and constitutional law, he presents a compelling analysis of Latin American constitutions and constitutional traditions. He complements that analysis with a powerful normative-practical thrust. Latin America, he says, needs to reject Presidentialist and centralist traditions and embrace an egalitarian constitutionalism that unites strong protections of individual autonomy with a subordination of power to norms of collective self-government. Moving in these new directions will require reformers to concentrate on how constitutions organize power, not simply how they enumerate rights."--Joshua Cohen, Stanford University

Selling point: Takes a synthetic and broad view of past two centuries of Latin American constitutionalism Selling point: Landmark comparative constitutional history Selling point: Takes a multidisciplinary perspective

Roberto Gargarella is Professor of Constitutional Theory and Political Philosophy at Universidad de Buenos Aires and a researcher for CONICET in Buenos Aires and the Christian Michelsen Institute in Norway. He received a John Simon Guggenheim grant in 2000 and a Harry Frank Guggenheim grant in 2002-3 and has published on issues of legal and political philosophy, as well as on U.S. and Latin American constitutionalism.

Selling point: Takes a synthetic and broad view of past two centuries of Latin American constitutionalism Selling point: Landmark comparative constitutional history Selling point: Takes a multidisciplinary perspective