Constitutional reforms and political turnover in Uruguay
Winning a battle, losing the war

David Altman. Daniel Buquet. Juan Pablo Luna. [Autores]
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ISSN: 1688-5058
ICP/UDELAR
Uruguay - Montevideo
Junio de 2011

Constitutional reforms are a crucial intervening variable mediating between "historical causes" at the time of their implementation and the quality of democracy in their aftermath. Consequently, constitutional reforms are endogenous to the will of significant stakeholders at the moment of approval depending on the political-institutional and international context in which they transpire. Simultaneously, as an independent variable and across time, reforms vary in terms of the effects and externalities they produce and the ratchet effects (the irreversibility of enacted reform measures) they create (Pierson 2004).