Dusting Off: A Critical Balance of the Discussion between Nino and Carrió on the Constituent Power

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to examine and debate the ideas of Carlos S. Nino on the concept of “constituent power”, derived from his discussion of an excellent monograph written by Genaro Carrió on the same topic. In this sense, I will try to show that Nino’s approaches can also be criticized (and not necessarily in favor of Carrió’s initial approach), which, in any case, does not take away from Nino the merit of having contributed with important reflections on this subject. This critical balance, in which I analyze several conceptual aspects commonly involved in Latin American constituent moments, is carried out 30 years after Nino’s disappearance, 40 years after his discussion with Carrió, 50 years after the publication of the (already classic) monograph written by Carrió, and 80 years after Nino’s birth