Bolivian President Evo Morales and International IDEA's Secretary-General Vidar Helgesen in La Paz, Bolivia, October 2006
On 25 January 2009, the Bolivian Constitution was approved in a referendum, ushering in a new phase of “democratic and cultural revolution” in a country characterized by a combination of administrative, legal and territorial political systems.
“Bolivia is a Single Social State of Law, Plurinational, Communitarian, free, independent, sovereign, democratic, intercultural, decentralised and with autonomous jurisdictions; it is founded on plurality and political, economic, juridical, cultural and linguistic pluralism … (Art. 1 of the Constitution).
On 6 December 2009, the re-election of President Evo Morales reflected broad public support for the change process. The president, and vice president, received slightly more than 64 per cent of the vote and a two-thirds majority for the governing party in both houses of Congress. The government now faces the challenge of developing legislation and adopting public policies to implement the principles and values enshrined in the Constitution. International IDEA has supported the constitutional reform process since the start of the Constituent Assembly in August 2006. It supported the drafting of legislation in areas prioritized by the new Constitution (laws on the electoral body and electoral regime and the framework law for autonomous jurisdictions), as well as an analysis of the content of the Constitution (MIRADAS nuevo texto constitucional) in collaboration with the office of the Vice President of Bolivia and San Andrés University. It also sponsored a series of studies and forums about how to take advantage of revenue from hydrocarbon resources with a vision of sustainable and equitable development.
Areas of Action:
Technical cooperation and experience exchange on the constitutional process
International IDEA provides technical support in the development of legislation stemming from the new Constitution, through a series of forums targeted at political and social stakeholders. Key areas of focus include training for assembly delegates in parliamentary procedures and processes, providing a vehicle for consensus building, and support for development of legislation and communication with citizens.
The information has served as the basis for developing a research platform that was key for drafting the “Ley Marco de Autonomías y descentralización” (Law on Autonomous Jurisdictions), enacted on July 2010
Electoral processes
International IDEA assists the National Electoral Court in areas related to norms, civic education, and voter registration, with special emphasis on voting abroad. As a result of the activities carried out in the second half of 2009, the National Electoral Court submitted to the Plurinational Legislative Assembly a draft proposal for the Law for the Electoral Body and Electoral Regime (prioritized in the new Constitution). Technical and financial assistance was also provided to the electoral body to provide comparative experiences of voting abroad, which informed arrangements for the first balloting by Bolivian migrants in four countries.
The challenges in 2011 for the electoral body includes not only the administration of an unprecedented electoral process for 2011-- the election of Bolivian judicial authorities-- but also the institutional re-structuring for the birth of the new electoral body composed of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and the Departmental Tribunals. International IDEA is supporting both processes.Escuchar
Technical cooperation with political organizations
This includes support for political party self-evaluation and planning processes; training for political party leaders and members; technical assistance in developing political plans and programmes, especially those related to development; helping political parties build their capacity for communicating within their organizations and with civil society; and helping to improve the performance of legislators. In 2009 IDEA carried out a study of internal democracy in political parties and civic groups active on the political scene.
In 2010, emphasis was placed on developing internal capabilities in political parties and civic organizations as well as training of new members of political parties. In 2011, support is being provided to political organizations to develop criteria for the implementation of programmatic political parties.Escuchar
Fostering political participation by women, youth and indigenous peoples
International IDEA supports women’s political participation and has carried out an analysis of women’s rights included in the new Constitution, highlighting the need to adapt current laws or pass new legislation to ensure enforcement of the principles and rights enshrined in the Constitution. Eight thematic areas — health, education, violence, economy, land, labour, autonomous jurisdictions and citizen oversight — have been analyzed, laying the groundwork for advocacy on the development of legislation by the Plurinational Legislative Assembly. Training programmes were organized for female candidates to enhance their knowledge of political communication and electoral regulations. Work has also been done with indigenous women leaders on international norms on women’s rights.
Throughout 2010 and 2011, the International IDEA – Bolivia Programme supports the development of legislation stemming from the new Constitution. In this regard, IDEA has worked in strategic partnership with many organizations to carry out advocacy processes that resulted in progress toward gender equity in more than five laws. Proposals and surveillance activities were developed for mainstreaming gender and women’s rights in the new regulations. Thanks in part to these broad processes, the newly established legal framework incorporates among its principles gender equity, parity and alternation including specific items to safeguard the guarantees for the exercise of women’s rights. These laws were the Judiciary Body, the Plurinational Electoral body, the Plurinational Constitutional Law and the Electoral Regime Law, the Framework Law of Autonomies and Decentralization and others.
At the departmental level, support is being provided to women assembly members in their new role and in the articulation of a gender agenda.
Democracy and the media
Analysis of the expansion of democracy in Latin American countries shows the increasing influence of the media in political representation and public debate. This component has therefore been part of International IDEA’s work in Bolivia. Our goal is to understand this sensitive and increasingly complex phenomenon. Understanding the media’s actions and investigating mechanisms for political communication is crucial for enhancing the quality of sustainable democracy.
Energy resources, democracy and development
The goal is to support the development of a shared vision for the management of revenue from natural resources and to promote sustainable, equitable development as the basis for high-quality democracy. The programme supports studies on the management of revenue from the resource sector as well as providing discussion about the use of revenue from natural resources and the contribution to sustainable and equitable development.
Work is currently under way at the sub-national level to facilitate dialogue and consensus building to arrive at strategic visions of regional development.
Technical assistance for the autonomy process
Bolivia faces profound political and administrative restructuring because of the establishment of four levels of autonomous jurisdiction under the new Constitution: departmental, municipal, indigenous and regional. This will bring major changes in public administration and work is being done to assist the different levels of government formulate public policy aimed at sustainable and equitable development.
The New Constitution, enacted in early 2009, initiated the autonomic process within the Plurinational State of Bolivia which was eventually followed by elections for governors and regional assembly members in April 2010. These were the first elections in the history of Bolivia to directly elect a regional assembly in each department. The current assembly members come from a variety of backgrounds and sectors, strengthening the political representation at this level, including several rural and indigenous assembly members who have never had the chance to participate in elections before.
The Regional Legislative Assemblies (RLAs) are a key part of the construction of the regional self-governments, and therefore the new Bolivian Plurinational State, because they are the body representing the social, cultural ethnic, territorial and economic diversity of each Region. The RLAs also have a more direct relationship with the territory and population and can be instrumental in the construction of fundamental agreements concerning the development of their regions by being a legitimate expression of that diversity.
However, fulfilling these responsibilities requires large initial efforts to develop institutional, regulatory, and operational management in each Regional Assembly, taking into account that a new form of government that has no precedent in Bolivian history has to be set up.
The project focuses on strengthening the institutional performance of regional legislative assemblies (RLAs), creating greater and more effective linkages between them and other national and sub-national government bodies, and capacity building for their members
