ABSTRACT
This chapter approaches constitution-making and deliberative democracy from an intersectional gender perspective. Based on theoretical considerations and two case studies, we elaborate the nexus between the participation of women’s organizations and individual women in constitution- and law-making and the outcome of these procedures. The two case studies are the development of gender-related legislation in the European Union (EU) and Chile. These cases have in common that gender issues as well as the participation of women have played a paramount role in constitution-making. They differ in that (1) unlike Chile, the EU is not a nation state; (2) EU Treaties have developed over a long time while the Chilean constitutional process has been relatively short; and (3) the ongoing Chilean constitutional process is a very recent phenomenon while gender legislation in the EU goes back to the 1950s.
