Forjar Constitución: México 1916-17

Abstract

This chapter discusses the creation and character of the Mexican Constitution of 1917. It describes the political, economic and social context in which the Constitution emerged; explains the motivation of the Carrancista regime in creating it; and traces the process – rapid and rushed – whereby the Constituent Congress was elected. It then analyses the make-up of the Congress, in terms of social class, occupation, age and ideological affiliation; and offers a resume of the congressional debates – the chief concerns, the notable omissions, and the historico-philosophical allusions. Finally, it offers some general observations regarding the principal ideological currents – liberal, jacobin and social-reformist – that swirled within the Congress, thus suggesting how, in the years after 1917, the new Constitution could serve, in flexible fashion, to legitimise a variety of policies, depending on the demands and pressures of changing circumstances.