20 years is nothing and 40... almost nothing. The Salvadoran Constitution of 1983 on its 40th anniversary

Abstract

The Constitution of the Republic of El Salvador will be in force for 40 years in 2023. It is a text whose uniqueness, both for the historical moment in which it was produced, as well as for the series of elements that shape and mold it, deserves to be described. I would dare to affirm that more than the text -which is very typical of the constitutions of its time- it is its context that provides this Constitution its uniqueness. Not many fundamental norms in a country like El Salvador have been in force for such a long time -in fact, only one from the end of the 19th century-. Its history includes favoring the inclusion of a raised in arms group  as a political party. Together with the 1992 Peace Accords and the reforms they brought about in the constitutional text, it could be considered a key norm in the formation, at least formally, of the rule of law in El Salvador.

This article seeks to delve into the context in which the Constitution arose and how it has been shaped to allow the democratic transition in El Salvador, with the challenges that this has entailed to date.

ECA Estudios Centroamericanos, Vol. 78, No. 772, 2023 : 21-39.