As a response to mass mobilizations against the political and social status quo, a multiparty agreement activated a process to replace the constitution in Chile, three decades after the country’s transition to democracy. I argue that this process has three features that are not only desirable on normative grounds but also shared by successful episodes of constitutional replacement in democratic regimes: the drafting of the new text in an assembly bound by preexisting rules, inclusive mechanisms of representation and decision making, and direct citizen involvement. These features, in interaction with the popular repudiation of the elite-biased institutions inherited from the Pinochet era, might lead to a new constitutional arrangement that deepens democratization by expanding citizen rights, strengthening executive constraints, and removing restrictions on majority rule. Yet the realization of the full democratic potential of this constitutional change depends on the still uncertain ability of constitution makers to compromise on a text that is not only seen as legitimate among ordinary citizens but also promotes coherent goals, effective institutions, and good governance.

作为对反对政治和社会现状的大规模动员的回应，在智利向民主过渡 30 年后，一项多党协议启动了替换宪法的进程。我认为，这个过程具有三个特征，它们不仅在规范性基础上是可取的，而且在民主制度中成功的宪法更换事件中也有共同之处：在议会中起草新文本，受先前存在的规则约束，具有包容性的代表和决策机制，以及直接的公民参与。这些特征与大众对皮诺切特时代继承下来的偏向精英的制度的排斥相互作用，可能会导致一种新的宪政安排，通过扩大公民权利、加强行政约束、并取消对多数规则的限制。然而，要实现这一宪法变革的全部民主潜力，取决于宪法制定者对一项不仅在普通公民中被视为合法而且促进连贯目标、有效机构和良好治理的文本妥协的能力仍然不确定。