Democratic Constitutionalism and Constitutional Innovation in Ecuador: The 2008 Constitution

Since the renewal of constituent power in the 1991 Colombian constitution, various democratic constitutions in Latin American countries have undertaken important structural changes in both the organization of public powers, the democratic legitimacy of power, and the constitutional reform of rights. Among these new constitutional texts in Latin America, the 2008 Ecuadorean constitution, with sumak kawsay (living well) as its axiological basis, stands out for its originality and theoretical advances as the first case of transitional constitutionalism. All these constitutions, however, are faced with an enforcement problem that hinders their operation as instruments of social transformation.