Chairs
• Mariella Kraus mariellakraus@gmail.com
• Gonzalo Ramírez Cleves gonzalo.ramirez@externado.edu.co
• Luisa Fernanda García López luisa.garcia@urosario.edu.co
• Milton César Jiménez milton.jimenez@ucaldas.edu.co

Constituent power, traditionally associated with moments of foundational rupture and democratic renewal, has been increasingly invoked in contexts where a tension arises between legality and legitimacy. However, its invocation is not necessarily synonymous with democratisation. Authoritarian leaders have instrumentalised the language of constituent power to weaken institutional controls, extend mandates, and consolidate personalist regimes. This workshop proposes to explore the contemporary ambivalence of constituent power: How can we distinguish between a process of democratic regeneration and an attempt at constitutional autocratisation?

Three thematic axes will be discussed:

1. Instrumentalisation of constituent power in hybrid and authoritarian regimes: Case studies on how the ‘will of the people’ was invoked to dismantle limits on power.
2. Normative and theoretical criteria for differentiating a democratic constituent power from an authoritarian one: Inclusion, plural participation, public deliberation, transparency, and social control.
3. The role of constitutional courts, academia, and civil society regarding constituent processes: Are there forms of containment? How can they act as guardians of democratic principles in the face of authoritarian ‘refounding’?

The objective of the workshop is to offer theoretical and comparative tools to critically analyse contemporary constituent processes, highlighting the need to safeguard democracy even (and especially) when actions are taken in its name.