El constitucionalismo conservador ecuatoriano: un instrumento en la construcción de la hegemonía

Abstract

This essay looks at aspects of the constitutional formation of the conservative project developed in Ecuador, under the leadership of Garcia Moreno, between 1860 and 1875. It examines the two constitutional assemblies that resulted in the charters of opposite political significance, of 1861 and 1869. Through the Diarios and Actas, this articles traces the opposing political tendencies that confronted each other in the debates of the respective assemblies. It shows the inclusive strategies employed by the conservatives, as much during their first period of establishment as in the consolidation of the conservative project at the time of the second constitutional turning point. The essay describes the various changes in the representation, administration, and the electoral field, (provincial representation, universal suffrage, and cantonal municipals) as tools and mechanisms for establishing greater social control and more centralized state power over the regions.