ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the transformation of democracy in Bolivia and Ecuador as envisioned by the new constitutions. It presents the political context in each country, there is a discussion of the three dimensions of constitutional change: politico-institutional, socio-economic, and cultural. The chapter consolidates changes by placing constitutional limits on privatization and establishing explicit social entitlements, among other elements. It examines the risk that the centralist and presidentialist features will hollow out the participatory and rights-based focus of these constitutions. The chapter explores a challenge to shift from dismantling the old political regime to building strong and relatively autonomous institutions. It involves the construction of plurinational states that aim to combine indigenous autonomy and self-government with the 'ordinary' democratic rule of law. The chapter presents the resource-based, state-centred development strategy that made it possible to focus more on socioeconomic rights may stand in the way of seriously searching for a post-neoliberal model of development based on economic diversity and environmental sustainability.
