The Constitution of Turbulence: Zavaleta, Linera and Constituent Power in Bolivia

This chapter argues that of the many novelties developed in the 2009 Bolivian constitution, one of the most intriguing was the generation of a radically new form of separation of powers. Where the conventional separation of powers internally divides power within the state apparatus, ensuring that no one arm of the state can overpower the others, the Bolivian model actively encouraged extra-systemic social movements. The constitution envisioned an active and continuing constituent power that counter-balanced the tendency of state structures to become ‘recursive’ in their power. In this way, the 2009 Bolivian experiment is a ‘constitution of turbulence’, something that would have important effects on the trajectory of the Bolivian state over the decade that followed its adoption.