INTRODUCTION: PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY AND A SOCIAL-ORIENTED ECONOMY

In the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, a longstanding economic crisis led to the adoption of neo-liberal policies, which included the ongoing privatisation of public services. In 1999, new political forces were elected into government, which triggered a process for the drafting of a new Constitution. In reaction to neo-liberal policies, the 1999 Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela promotes a distinct path for the country in which the concept of social justice plays a central role.

The new Republic is based on the development of a democratic ‘Social State of Law and Justice’. Proclaiming justice, equity and human rights among its superior values (article 2), the Constitution sets the respect of human dignity and the fulfilment of constitutional rights and duties among its purposes (article 3). The extensive rights charter includes comprehensive recognition of human rights and several guarantees for their realisation, including the establishment of institutions for ensuring due process and the constitutional recognition of international human rights law. The Constitution develops a comprehensive regime for the protection and promotion of human rights by the State, but it also establishes the principles of social cooperation, solidarity and co-responsibility of all members of society and the State in the fulfilment of constitutional purposes (article 4).

One of the most outstanding features of the new Constitution is the redesign of the structure of public powers.