The purpose of this article is to refute one of the most important arguments of liberal theory: that rigid constitutions produce positive effects on democracies. As opposed to liberal theory, this article proposes the following hypotheses: (1) that constitutional rigidity has a positive effect on electoral competition; but, (2) also a negative impact on political participation. Additionally, (3) the imbalance between electoral competition and political participation, as an effect of constitutional rigidity, produces a crisis of political representation. In order to asses these hypotheses, this study will be focused on the experience of post authoritarian Chile.
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