Constitutional referendum in Chile: a late end to dictatorship Published: 13 November 2020 Background On 25 October, one year on from the mass demonstrations in the country, the Chilean electorate voted by an overwhelming majority of more than 78 percent in favour of a new constitution and of 79 percent for an assembly comprised solely of citizens to write this constitution. By Ingrid Wehr
From mass protests to the SARS-CoV2 crisis: the public health crisis is worsening the social crisis in Chile Published: 27 May 2020 Background The October uprising has paved the way for new constitution in Chile. However, the virus has forced citizens’ organisations into quarantine and is delaying constitutional change. What happens next? By Ingrid Wehr
South Africa: “Strengthening democracy is about building trust in the system” Published: 20 December 2016 Like nobody else Thuli Madonsela stands for the compliance of constitutional maxims in South Africa. In her seven years in the office as “public protector”, she repeatedly uncovered various abuses of powers by the political elite. We talked to the winner of this year’s German Africa Award. By Maria Kind and Layla Al-Zubaidi
The Italian constitutional referendum: a victory for democracy and civil society Published: 6 December 2016 Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi decided to stake everything on the referendum: his personal credibility and his political legitimacy. His failure leads us to the question what kind of change Renzi was actually representing. By Armanda Cetrulo
Slovakia’s Presidential Election: When Playing the Conservative Card Doesn’t Work Published: 7 April 2014 Slovakia is about to change its constitution that limits diversity of family forms strictly. However, the results of the presidential election bring glimmers of hope to sexual minorities in Slovakia. By Zora Bútorová
The lesson of the latest amendments to the Hungarian constitution Published: 15 March 2013 With the constitutional amendments adopted on the 11th of March, Viktor Orbán has once again caused a surprise. The reactions of the Western European public show that there is still an inadequate grasp of how political power is exercised by Orbán’s government. European democrats now finally need to formulate a common position against the power centralization in the country. By Eva van de Rakt and Kristóf Szombati
