Why Constitutionalism Works Well in the U.S. and Badly in Latin America

Event Details

Keith Rosenn, a law professor at the University of Miami and a former officer for the Ford Foundation in Brazil, has written several books about the law in Latin America. Dr. Rosenn explores the glaring differences between the U.S. Constitution, which has been a large success, and the constitutions of Latin American nations, which have been large failures. Rosenn proposes that many factors explain these differences, including: the prior experience of North Americans with constitutionalism and self-government, the intricate system of checks and balances the North American framers developed and the frequent changes in government in Latin America. During the question and answer session, Rosenn discusses separation of church and state and new experiments with different forms of government in Latin America.