Introduction

Abstract

The book is divided into three parts. In the first part, authors examine the relationship between Latin American and US constitutionalism. In particular, they examine the widespread idea that Latin America is a mere space for the reproduction and dissemination of US and European constitutional production and that the United States is a context for the production of universable legal knowledge. In the same way, this part of the book examines the reasons that explain why Latin American constitutionalism is so little known in the United States and what would be the strategies that would allow creating a richer and more fluid dialogue between the two. In the second part of the book, authors analyze critically the experience that Latin America has had with both liberal and radical constitutionalism during the last 25 years. On the one hand, authors explore the experience of countries such as Colombia, Mexico and Argentina with the liberal constitutional model; on the other, authors evaluate the Ecuadorian, Bolivian and Venezuelan experiences with what is commonly known as socialism of the 21st century or radical constitutionalism. In this part of the book authors evaluate both the costs and benefits that the liberal and radical constitutional models have generated, as well as their future. In the third part of the book, authors examine some of the strengths of the US constitutional model, the idea that its global influence has supposedly weakened, as well as some of the paths it could take in the future.

Keywords: US Constitutionalism, Latin American Constitutionalism, Political Economy of Legal Knowledge, Radical Constitutionalism in Latin America, Liberal Constitutionalism in Latin America