Populismo constituyente, democracia y promesas incumplidas: el caso de la Convención Constitucional Chilena (2021-2022)Constituent populism, democracy, and failed promises: The case of the Chilean Constitutional Convention (2021-2022).

This article critically examines popular participatory mechanisms in constitution-making, focusing on the risks these mechanisms pose in democratic contexts marked by populism and weakened party systems. It identifies two main types of failures: "authoritarian failure," where constitution-making leads to democratic backsliding, and "activation failure," where constitutional reforms fail to be approved or implemented, often due to bypassing established political parties. Using the 2021–2022 Chilean Constitutional Convention as a case study, the article argues that excluding or weakening political parties—defined as institutionalized organizations that mediate citizen demands and political power—can undermine consensus-building and the legitimacy of constitutional proposals. The Chilean case illustrates how a convention dominated by independents and social movements, lacking effective party mediation, produced a constitution rejected by a broad majority, highlighting the importance of integrating representative institutions to balance inclusivity with political stability in constitution-making processes.