Academic literature on the topic 'Constitutinal history'

El Ecuador ha tenido a lo largo de su historia veintiún Constituciones. Los diferentes textos constitucionales que han sido promulgados trajeron consigo una serie de malformaciones respecto a la estructura del Estado. La división de poderes estaba establecida sin un efectivo sistema de controles y balances en el poder público. Las diferentes funciones del Estado ecuatoriano han sido facultadas constitucionalmente para ejercer el control referente a otra, sin embargo, dicho control no ha sido el adecuado debido a las coyunturas políticas a las que han estado ligadas. Cada Constitución ha sido modificada de manera que a cada gobierno de turno le resulte posible conservar el orden democrático estatal. En ese orden de ideas se ha observado que las falencias constitucionales han dado pie a diferentes atentados a la democracia y estabilidad institucional tornando al Estado, ingobernable. En el presente tema se realizó un análisis histórico observando el enfoque que se le ha dado a cada una de las Constituciones ecuatorianas sobre todo aquellas que han estado vigentes al momento de una interrupción al orden democrático. Por las consideraciones anteriores es pertinente señalar que la Constitución ecuatoriana ha sido cómplice de las actuaciones que traen consigo su propio perjuicio, contempla en su esencia su propio altercado.

The article reveals the essence of the constitutional revolution, which left a huge mark in the history of the Iranian state and lasted for a long time. The mistakes of the Qajar dynasty in domestic and foreign policy; the irreparable blow of foreign countries and capitals to Iran's economy; not only in the economic sphere, but also in management issues, there is talk of increasing dependence on foreign countries. Despite the fact that it was the first revolution in the history of Iran, it was a revolution that spread to a wide area and caused great changes in the life of the state administration. The reasons, results, achievements and shortcomings of this revolution, which achieved great positive growth and changes in the history of Iran during the years 1905-1911, are discussed below.

The constitutional history never had the status of an independent discipline on faculties of law in Serbia. On the other hand, there are a few synthesis in Serbian and in English with monographic characteristics regarding the constitutional history of Serbia. Occasionally there are some concerning the entire constitutional history, but most of them are about 19th century. Some of those monographs are analyzed in this paper: the works of Slobodan Jovanović regarding 19th century constitutional history of Serbia 'Constitutional Development and Constitutional Fights in Serbia' by Jaša Prodanović, 'The Development of Parliamentary Government in Serbia' by Alex Dragnich and 'Constitutional history of Serbia' by Dragoljub Popović. In consideration are taken a few Serbian Constitutional law textbooks which traditionally contain general as well as national constitutional history. Those works are taken as examples for analyzing the possibility of constitutional history being an independent discipline. It was done through an indirect approach, by analyzing the monographic works, that is, the synthesis of constitutional history of Serbia in 19th century. This paper doesn't give a review of the content of the abovementioned works but a review of the methodological approach used by its authors. Although the constitutional history was never considered as an independent discipline on faculties of law in Serbia, the assumption is that it has its own subject and specific methodological approach. All the works that have been the subject of analysis show a certain methodological specifics. However, the authors do not explicitly state their methodological approach. For example, Slobodan Jovanović distinctly says that he writes about the constitutional history and states some notions in regards to a potential subject of that discipline which he understands it to be quite broadly. The analysis of Jaša Prodanović and Alex Dragnich are predominantly based on chronological approach, whereas the analysis of Dragoljub Popović are based on chronological and thematic approach. The conclusion is that the constitutional history lays between the use of the historical method and the method of the constitutional law. And, as there can't be an understanding of constitutional legal phenomenon without its overall comprehension which includes not only the analyze of the constitutional norms but also the 'life' of those norms, their practical shaping, neither can constitutional history be limited to merely give a description of the constitutional norms which existed in the past. Constitutional history must leap into the past and understand which conditions lead to certain ideas or were of great significance in shaping the political institutions. Hence, the subject of constitutional history, at first glance, can be seen as unspecified. However the subject is clear, and a successful result requires a perception of the subject of constitutional history from various perspectives.

This thesis studies the evolution of the war prerogative in England from 1600-2010. It traces the historical theory and practice of the war prerogative and proposes reform of the constitutional arrangements for its exercise. It addresses three key questions. First, what have writers on political and constitutional theory said about the constitutional arrangements for the war prerogative, and, in particular, what justifications have been advanced for those arrangements? Secondly, in practice, has the executive in fact possessed sole and exclusive powers over war and the deployment of force, or have Parliament and the courts had a role to play in their exercise and scrutiny? Thirdly, are there better ways to organise our constitutional arrangements for the war prerogative, to enable a more substantive role for Parliament (particularly the House of Commons) in its exercise and scrutiny? On the first question, I show that orthodox theoretical and political discourses have continuously asserted the executive’s exclusive power over war, but the justifications advanced for that arrangement have changed over time. Those changes reflect the varying influence of different political theories at different times. On the second question, I find that, contrary to orthodox theoretical and political discourses, Parliament has played an active and substantive role in the exercise and scrutiny of the war prerogative. The courts have refused to intervene in the exercise of the war prerogative, but have been more ready to intervene in cases involving the exercise of powers incidental to the war prerogative. On the third question, I argue that reform of the constitutional arrangements for the war prerogative is necessary and desirable. I recommend the use of ‘institutional mechanisms’, which are small-scale rules and institutional arrangements, within existing institutions, which aim to promote certain normative goals. In particular, I propose a statute which would impose conditions on the executive’s exercise of its war prerogative. I argue that these proposals show that, through careful institutional design, democratic values, national security and operational efficiency can each be reconciled and promoted.

Dr. Dinah Mayoo-Bobee, Assistant Professor, Department of History, East Tennessee State University, will address one of today’s hot topics at its inception and other issues which confronted the forefathers of our country.

This thesis is an analysis of the War Powers Resolution of 1973 and the impact it held on the role of Congress and the President in entering war. More specifically, this thesis takes a look at President Richard M. Nixon’s influence on the 93rd Congress’s decision to pass the War Powers Resolution after multiple failed attempts at similar legislation. Through a major domestic policy blunder, the Watergate break-in, and a foreign policy disaster, the on-going war in Vietnam, opposition to Nixon’s presidential conduct united both the House and the Senate and resulted in legislation that would attempt to restore the Constitutional balance of power.

In Dred Scott v. Sandford, Chief Justice Roger Taney spoke for the majority of the United States Supreme Court to declare that Blacks were not constituent members of the American political sovereignty, but rather they were “beings of an inferior order, altogether unfit to associate with the white race” and they “had no rights which the white man was bound to respect.” Through engaging in a critical inquiry of constitutional hermeneutics, Blacks looked to the Constitution to deduce their collective identity. However, when they looked in the constitutional mirror, they saw a broken reflection. By evaluating the existential dichotomy of the African-American self-identity revealed in the responses to the Dred Scott decision, this research argues that the African-American self-identity was broken by the Supreme Court’s declaration that they were neither citizens nor people under the Constitution; however, in the face of the Dred Scott decision, the African-American self-identity used the very document which denied their right to exist, to galvanize a unique identity capturing their oppression, and the hope to realize their deprived liberty.

Many researchers and political experts have commented on the disenfranchisement of the citizenry caused by irresponsible use of power by the government that potentially violates the 4^th Amendment rights of millions of people through secret mass surveillance programs. Disclosures of this abuse of power are presumably protected by the 1^st Amendment, though when constitutional protections are not followed by the government, the result can be prosecution and imprisonment of whistleblowers. Using a critical autoethnographic approach, the purpose of this study was to examine the devolution of democratic governance and constitutional rights in the United States since 9/11. Using the phenomena of my signature indictment (the first whistleblower since Daniel Ellsberg was charged under the Espionage Act) and prosecution by the U.S. government, data were collected through interviews with experts associated with this unique circumstance. These data, including my own recollections of the event, were inductively coded and subjected to a thematic analysis procedure. The findings revealed that the use of national security as the primary grounds to suppress democracy and the voices of whistleblowers speaking truth to, and about, power increased authoritarian tendencies in government. These tendencies gave rise to extra-legal autocratic behavior and sovereign state control over the institutions of democratic governance. Positive social change can only take place in a society that has robust governance and social structures that strengthen democracy, human rights, and the rule of law, and do not inhibit or suppress them.

The article analyses the attitude of writers of the constitutional law textbooks from the former Yugoslavia towards the Vidovdan Constitution. The author focuses on the textbooks used at the time of writing in teaching and for exam preparation of Constitutional Law at state-owned law faculties as of academic year 2020/21. However, the analysis also includes several textbooks that represent a kind of historical readings. By comparing the relevant materials, the author made an attempt to shed light on scientific, legal and even political attitude of various authors towards the Vidovdan Constitution, and indirectly towards the Yugoslav state itself. The significance of this analysis is reflected in the fact that young generations - future lawyers and members of the social elites of the states created on Yugoslav foundations, get acquainted with their constitutional history through textbooks of constitutional law.

Many modern countries strive to reflect the principles of the rule of law in their national legal systems. This problem is being investigated by legal scholars around the world. In 1993, on December 12, a new Constitution was adopted in the history of Russia, which declared The Russian Federation a legal state. This marked a new stage in the development of ideas of the rule of law in the history of Russia.

As a special problem the division of subjects and methodology of history of law with different branches of law is arisen - such as the constitutional, financial law, and also with economic science. The author investigates their evolution within interference with the history of law, the possibility to ensure the autonomy of the scientific branches by formulation of aims and tasks of investigations.

Following the fall of the Soviet Republic of Hungary, the criminal prosecution of the political leaders of the former Bolshevik state confronted the courts of the country with a number of problematic questions on the interpretation of both constitutional and criminal law. From a constitutional perspective, establishing the applicable law under which the actions of the defendants would be evaluated was not obvious as the validity of both the Soviet Republic and that of the previous so-called People’s Republic of Hungary were dubious. From a criminal perspective – as at the time being criminal codes lacked specific crimes for the prosecution of political leaders of past dictatorships. Therefore, prosecutors and adjudicating courts tried to evaluate political actions committed using state power as if these would have been committed by private individuals which raised a number of interesting legal problems of interpretation.

In the 20th century, Serbia had a very interesting and diverse constitutional development and constitutional solutions, changing the principles of the organization of government, the form of social organization, the diversity of state communities. In this period of time, Serbia passed a large number of constitutions, and some of them were revoked and again, with minor changes, adopted. In any case, such a rich constitutional history has contributed to the fact that Serbia has great constitutional experience, which will be necessary when adopting new constitutional changes that will inevitably follow in the future and which should be used in order not to make the historical mistakes we made in the past. All the constitutions that were proclaimed in Serbia in the 20th century (there were eith of them) were of significance not only for the principle of separation of powers between three branches of government, but also for the creation of conditions for the functioning of economic entities. Basic principles that werw established bythe constitutionalarticles werw to a guide to how economic rights should be regulated, and above all: equality of private and other forms of property, free market, freedom of entrepreneurship , independence of economic entities.

How scientifically legitimate is the research of the history of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes? Does it make sense to deal with it today more than before? According to Weber-inspired methodology, the legitimacy of the research topic is based on the subjective (value judgment of the researcher) and the objective element (depending on the actuality of the topic and the selected professional structure). From this point of view, it seems that the answer to the initial question about legitimacy of the study on the Kingdom of SCS is confirmed. The choice of the topic of the paper is the result of personal interest and almost biographical affiliation of the author to the history and scenario of the "South Slavs"; But, on the other hand, actuality of topics can be objectively justified by the obvious interests of the scientific and professional public for the rediscovered Eastern Europe and - especially - for The Balkans, as one of its crucial geopolitical hubs.

The Vidovdan Constitution of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes is one of the most important monuments of regional history of constitutional law. Adopted in 1921, in order to determine the basic principles of state and social organization, the Vidovdan Constitution contained certain provisions that are still acceptable today 100 years later. Moreover, the Vidovdan Constitution represents one of the most important moments in the creation of the administrative judiciary of the states that later emerged in the territory of the Kingdom. Namely, the literature states that the organization of the administrative judiciary, provided by the Constitution, leads to the most significant period in the development of the administrative judiciary (in Serbia) from its founding in 1869 until the Second World War. In this regard, as one of the most important aspects, authors emphasize the introduction of a two-tier administrative judiciary, with significant guarantees of professionalism in the selection of judges. Having in mind its significance in the history of the administrative judiciary, the authors will analyze the basic constitutional norms regarding the legal nature and organization of the administrative judiciary. Also, the research will include the issue of the position of judges of the administrative court and members of the State Council. In addition to the constitutional provisions, paper gives mentions to relevant provisions of the Law on the State Council and Administrative Courts, as well as the Decree on the State Council and Administrative Courts adopted shortly after the Vidovdan Constitution.

The article is devoted to the problem of the social state as one of the fundamental constitutional principles of the state structure of modern developed countries. The course of historical development of philosophical and legal thought on this problem is considered. The idea of a close connection between the concept of the social state and the ideas of utopian socialism of Thomas More and Henri Saint-Simon is put forward. Liberals also made a significant contribution to the development of the idea of the social state, they argued that the ratio of equality and freedom is a key problem for the classical liberal doctrine. It is concluded that the emergence of the theory of the social state for objective reasons was inevitable, since it is due to the historical development of society.

In the Anthropocene era, the global environmental crisis of mass species extinction and habitat loss poses a significant threat, intensified by climate change-induced events such as droughts, floods, heat stress, and extreme weather. India, with a projected mid-century population exceeding 1.5 billion, faces challenges to food, water, air, and ecological security, particularly in urban areas. Despite these pressures, India has demonstrated a noteworthy commitment to biodiversity conservation since Independence, embedded in its constitutional values.

The concept of impeachment has its origins in the history of political and legal thought as a constitutional mechanism to remove public officials for serious violations of the law or abuse of power. Originating from England, it has influenced the constitutions of the United States and the countries of Latin America. In addition to concrete grounds for impeachment, constitutions also allow for impeachment based on abstract grounds, designed for cases where no specific offence can be proven, but the abuse of power is so obvious that the people must be guaranteed the right to recall their elected leader. In Latin America, military coups have been replaced by so-called “soft coups”, which abuse various legal instruments. The abstract nature of the grounds for impeachment contributes to the potential misuse of this mechanism as a tool of lawfare, as many cases demonstrate. During the past decade, Peru has experienced a series of impeachments, with three presidents facing removal from office due to political conflicts between the legislative and executive branches. These cases highlight the use of impeachment as a tool of lawfare, undermining democratic stability and raising concerns about the transparency and impartiality of the process, as well as the erosion of democratic principles.

The concept of impeachment has its origins in the history of political and legal thought as a constitutional mechanism to remove public officials for serious violations of the law or abuse of power. Originating from England, it has influenced the constitutions of the United States and the countries of Latin America. In addition to concrete grounds for impeachment, constitutions also allow for impeachment based on abstract grounds, designed for cases where no specific offence can be proven, but the abuse of power is so obvious that the people must be guaranteed the right to recall their elected leader. In Latin America, military coups have been replaced by so-called “soft coups”, which abuse various legal instruments. The abstract nature of the grounds for impeachment contributes to the potential misuse of this mechanism as a tool of lawfare, as many cases demonstrate. During the past decade, Peru has experienced a series of impeachments, with three presidents facing removal from office due to political conflicts between the legislative and executive branches. These cases highlight the use of impeachment as a tool of lawfare, undermining democratic stability and raising concerns about the transparency and impartiality of the process, as well as the erosion of democratic principles.

Social exclusion is considered critical for understanding poverty, livelihoods, inequality and political participation in rural India. Studies show how exclusion is produced through relations of power associated with gender, caste, religion and ethnicity. Studies also document how people confront their exclusion. We use insights from these studies – alongside science and technology studies – and rely on life history narratives of ‘excluded’ people from rural Tamil Nadu, to develop a new approach to agency as constituted by two contrasting ways of relating: control and care. These ways of relating are at once social and material. They entangle humans with each other and with material worlds of nature and technology, while being mediated by structures such as social norms and cultural values. Relations of control play a central role in constituting exclusionary forms of agency. In contrast, relations of care are central to the agency of resistance against exclusion and of livelihood-building by the ‘excluded’. Relations can be transformed through agency in uncertain ways that are highly sensitive to trans-local contexts. We offer examples of policy-relevant questions that our approach can help to address for apprehending social exclusion in rural India and elsewhere.

The change through grassroots democratic processes in the Indian political system is the result of a growing conviction that the big government cannot achieve growth and development in a society without people's direct participation and initiative. The decentralized political institutions have been more participatory and inclusive ensuring equality of political opportunity. Social exclusion in India is not a new phenomenon. History bears witness to exclusion of social groups on the bases of caste, class, gender and religion. Most notable is the category of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Women who were denied the access and control over economic and social opportunities as a result they were relegated to the categories of excluded groups. It is true that the problems of the excluded classes were addressed by the state through the enactment of anti-discriminatory laws and policies to foster their social inclusion and empowerment. Despite these provisions, exclusion and discrimination of these excluded groups continued. Therefore, there was a need to address issues of ‘inclusion’ in a more direct manner. Madhya Pradesh has made a big headway in the working for the inclusion of these excluded groups. The leadership role played by the under privileged, poor and the marginalized people of the society at the grassroots level is indeed remarkable because two decade earlier these people were excluded from public life and political participation for them was a distant dream. Against this backdrop, the paper attempts to unfold the changes that have taken place in the rural power structure after 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act. To what extent the decentralized political institutions have been successful in the inclusion of the marginalized section of the society in the state of Madhya Pradesh [India].

At their most basic level taxes carry, in the words of Schumpeter ([1918] 1991), “the thunder of history” (p. 101). They say something about the ever-changing structures of social, economic, and political life. Taxes offer a blueprint, in both symbolic and concrete terms, for uncovering the most fundamental arrangements in society – stratification included. The historical retellings captured within these data highlight the politics of taxation in Alabama from 1856 to 1901, including conflicts over whom money is expended upon as well as struggles over who carries their fair share of the tax burden. The selected timeline overlaps with the formation of five of six constitutions adopted in the State of Alabama, including 1861, 1865, 1868, 1875, and 1901. Having these years as the focal point makes for an especially meaningful case study, given how much these constitutional formations made the state a site for much political debate. These data contain 5,121 pages of periodicals from newspapers throughout the state, including: Alabama Sentinel, Alabama State Intelligencer, Alabama State Journal, Athens Herald, Daily Alabama Journal, Daily Confederation, Elyton Herald, Mobile Daily Tribune, Mobile Tribune, Mobile Weekly Tribune, Morning Herald, Nationalist, New Era, Observer, Tuscaloosa Observer, Tuskegee News, Universalist Herald, and Wilcox News and Pacificator. The contemporary relevance of these historical debates manifests in Alabama’s current constitution which was adopted in 1901. This constitution departs from well-established conventions of treating the document as a legal framework that specifies a general role of governance but is firm enough to protect the civil rights and liberties of the population. Instead, it stands more as a legislative document, or procedural straightjacket, that preempts through statutory material what regulatory action is possible by the state. These barriers included a refusal to establish a state board of education and enact a tax structure for local education in addition to debt and tax limitations that constrained government capacity more broadly. Prohibitive features like these are among the reasons that, by 2020, the 1901 Constitution has been amended nearly 1,000 times since its adoption. However, similar procedural barriers have been duplicated across the U.S. since (e.g., California’s Proposition 13 of 1978). Reference: Schumpeter, Joseph. [1918] 1991. “The Crisis of the Tax State.” Pp. 99-140 in The Economics and Sociology of Capitalism, edited by Richard Swedberg. Princeton University Press.

Banco de la República is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2023. This is a very significant anniversary and one that provides an opportunity to highlight the contribution the Bank has made to the country’s development. Its track record as guarantor of monetary stability has established it as the one independent state institution that generates the greatest confidence among Colombians due to its transparency, management capabilities, and effective compliance with the central banking and cultural responsibilities entrusted to it by the Constitution and the Law. On a date as important as this, the Board of Directors of Banco de la República (BDBR) pays tribute to the generations of governors and officers whose commitment and dedication have contributed to the growth of this institution.1 Banco de la República’s mandate was confirmed in the National Constitutional Assembly of 1991 where the citizens had the opportunity to elect the seventy people who would have the task of drafting a new constitution. The leaders of the three political movements with the most votes were elected as chairs to the Assembly, and this tripartite presidency reflected the plurality and the need for consensus among the different political groups to move the reform forward. Among the issues considered, the National Constitutional Assembly gave special importance to monetary stability. That is why they decided to include central banking and to provide Banco de la República with the necessary autonomy to use the instruments for which they are responsible without interference from other authorities. The constituent members understood that ensuring price stability is a state duty and that the entity responsible for this task must be enshrined in the Constitution and have the technical capability and institutional autonomy necessary to adopt the decisions they deem appropriate to achieve this fundamental objective in coordination with the general economic policy. In particular, Article 373 established that “the State, through Banco de la República, shall ensure the maintenance of the purchasing power of the currency,” a provision that coincided with the central banking system adopted by countries that have been successful in controlling inflation. In 1999, in Ruling 481, the Constitutional Court stated that “the duty to maintain the purchasing power of the currency applies to not only the monetary, credit, and exchange authority, i.e., the Board of Banco de la República, but also those who have responsibilities in the formulation and implementation of the general economic policy of the country” and that “the basic constitutional purpose of Banco de la República is the protection of a sound currency. However, this authority must take the other economic objectives of state intervention such as full employment into consideration in their decisions since these functions must be coordinated with the general economic policy.” The reforms to Banco de la República agreed upon in the Constitutional Assembly of 1991 and in Act 31/1992 can be summarized in the following aspects: i) the Bank was assigned a specific mandate: to maintain the purchasing power of the currency in coordination with the general economic policy; ii) the BDBR was designatedas the monetary, foreign exchange, and credit authority; iii) the Bank and its Board of Directors were granted a significant degree of independence from the government; iv) the Bank was prohibited from granting credit to the private sector except in the case of the financial sector; v) established that in order to grant credit to the government, the unanimous vote of its Board of Directors was required except in the case of open market transactions; vi) determined that the legislature may, in no case, order credit quotas in favor of the State or individuals; vii) Congress was appointed, on behalf of society, as the main addressee of the Bank’s reporting exercise; and viii) the responsibility for inspection, surveillance, and control over Banco de la República was delegated to the President of the Republic. The members of the National Constitutional Assembly clearly understood that the benefits of low and stable inflation extend to the whole of society and contribute mto the smooth functioning of the economic system. Among the most important of these is that low inflation promotes the efficient use of productive resources by allowing relative prices to better guide the allocation of resources since this promotes economic growth and increases the welfare of the population. Likewise, low inflation reduces uncertainty about the expected return on investment and future asset prices. This increases the confidence of economic agents, facilitates long-term financing, and stimulates investment. Since the low-income population is unable to protect itself from inflation by diversifying its assets, and a high proportion of its income is concentrated in the purchase of food and other basic goods that are generally the most affected by inflationary shocks, low inflation avoids arbitrary redistribution of income and wealth.2 Moreover, low inflation facilitates wage negotiations, creates a good labor climate, and reduces the volatility of employment levels. Finally, low inflation helps to make the tax system more transparent and equitable by avoiding the distortions that inflation introduces into the value of assets and income that make up the tax base. From the monetary authority’s point of view, one of the most relevant benefits of low inflation is the credibility that economic agents acquire in inflation targeting, which turns it into an effective nominal anchor on price levels. Upon receiving its mandate, and using its autonomy, Banco de la República began to announce specific annual inflation targets as of 1992. Although the proposed inflation targets were not met precisely during this first stage, a downward trend in inflation was achieved that took it from 32.4% in 1990 to 16.7% in 1998. At that time, the exchange rate was kept within a band. This limited the effectiveness of monetary policy, which simultaneously sought to meet an inflation target and an exchange rate target. The Asian crisis spread to emerging economies and significantly affected the Colombian economy. The exchange rate came under strong pressure to depreciate as access to foreign financing was cut off under conditions of a high foreign imbalance. This, together with the lack of exchange rate flexibility, prevented a countercyclical monetary policy and led to a 4.2% contraction in GDP that year. In this context of economic slowdown, annual inflation fell to 9.2% at the end of 1999, thus falling below the 15% target set for that year. This episode fully revealed how costly it could be, in terms of economic activity, to have inflation and exchange rate targets simultaneously. Towards the end of 1999, Banco de la República announced the adoption of a new monetary policy regime called the Inflation Targeting Plan. This regime, known internationally as ‘Inflation Targeting,’ has been gaining increasing acceptance in developed countries, having been adopted in 1991 by New Zealand, Canada, and England, among others, and has achieved significant advances in the management of inflation without incurring costs in terms of economic activity. In Latin America, Brazil and Chile also adopted it in 1999. In the case of Colombia, the last remaining requirement to be fulfilled in order to adopt said policy was exchange rate flexibility. This was realized around September 1999, when the BDBR decided to abandon the exchange-rate bands to allow the exchange rate to be freely determined in the market.Consistent with the constitutional mandate, the fundamental objective of this new policy approach was “the achievement of an inflation target that contributes to maintaining output growth around its potential.”3 This potential capacity was understood as the GDP growth that the economy can obtain if it fully utilizes its productive resources. To meet this objective, monetary policy must of necessity play a countercyclical role in the economy. This is because when economic activity is below its potential and there are idle resources, the monetary authority can reduce the interest rate in the absence of inflationary pressure to stimulate the economy and, when output exceeds its potential capacity, raise it. This policy principle, which is immersed in the models for guiding the monetary policy stance, makes the following two objectives fully compatible in the medium term: meeting the inflation target and achieving a level of economic activity that is consistent with its productive capacity. To achieve this purpose, the inflation targeting system uses the money market interest rate (at which the central bank supplies primary liquidity to commercial banks) as the primary policy instrument. This replaced the quantity of money as an intermediate monetary policy target that Banco de la República, like several other central banks, had used for a long time. In the case of Colombia, the objective of the new monetary policy approach implied, in practical terms, that the recovery of the economy after the 1999 contraction should be achieved while complying with the decreasing inflation targets established by the BDBR. The accomplishment of this purpose was remarkable. In the first half of the first decade of the 2000s, economic activity recovered significantly and reached a growth rate of 6.8% in 2006. Meanwhile, inflation gradually declined in line with inflation targets. That was how the inflation rate went from 9.2% in 1999 to 4.5% in 2006, thus meeting the inflation target established for that year while GDP reached its potential level. After this balance was achieved in 2006, inflation rebounded to 5.7% in 2007, above the 4.0% target for that year due to the fact that the 7.5% GDP growth exceeded the potential capacity of the economy.4 After proving the effectiveness of the inflation targeting system in its first years of operation, this policy regime continued to consolidate as the BDBR and the technical staff gained experience in its management and state-of-the-art economic models were incorporated to diagnose the present and future state of the economy and to assess the persistence of inflation deviations and expectations with respect to the inflation target. Beginning in 2010, the BDBR established the long-term 3.0% annual inflation target, which remains in effect today. Lower inflation has contributed to making the macroeconomic environment more stable, and this has favored sustained economic growth, financial stability, capital market development, and the functioning of payment systems. As a result, reductions in the inflationary risk premia and lower TES and credit interest rates were achieved. At the same time, the duration of public domestic debt increased significantly going from 2.27 years in December 2002 to 5.86 years in December 2022, and financial deepening, measured as the level of the portfolio as a percentage of GDP, went from around 20% in the mid-1990s to values above 45% in recent years in a healthy context for credit institutions.Having been granted autonomy by the Constitution to fulfill the mandate of preserving the purchasing power of the currency, the tangible achievements made by Banco de la República in managing inflation together with the significant benefits derived from the process of bringing inflation to its long-term target, make the BDBR’s current challenge to return inflation to the 3.0% target even more demanding and pressing. As is well known, starting in 2021, and especially in 2022, inflation in Colombia once again became a serious economic problem with high welfare costs. The inflationary phenomenon has not been exclusive to Colombia and many other developed and emerging countries have seen their inflation rates move away from the targets proposed by their central banks.5 The reasons for this phenomenon have been analyzed in recent Reports to Congress, and this new edition delves deeper into the subject with updated information. The solid institutional and technical base that supports the inflation targeting approach under which the monetary policy strategy operates gives the BDBR the necessary elements to face this difficult challenge with confidence. In this regard, the BDBR reiterated its commitment to the 3.0% inflation target in its November 25 communiqué and expects it to be reached by the end of 2024.6 Monetary policy will continue to focus on meeting this objective while ensuring the sustainability of economic activity, as mandated by the Constitution. Analyst surveys done in March showed a significant increase (from 32.3% in January to 48.5% in March) in the percentage of responses placing inflation expectations two years or more ahead in a range between 3.0% and 4.0%. This is a clear indication of the recovery of credibility in the medium-term inflation target and is consistent with the BDBR’s announcement made in November 2022. The moderation of the upward trend in inflation seen in January, and especially in February, will help to reinforce this revision of inflation expectations and will help to meet the proposed targets. After reaching 5.6% at the end of 2021, inflation maintained an upward trend throughout 2022 due to inflationary pressures from both external sources, associated with the aftermath of the pandemic and the consequences of the war in Ukraine, and domestic sources, resulting from: strengthening of local demand; price indexation processes stimulated by the increase in inflation expectations; the impact on food production caused by the mid-2021 strike; and the pass-through of depreciation to prices. The 10% increase in the minimum wage in 2021 and the 16% increase in 2022, both of which exceeded the actual inflation and the increase in productivity, accentuated the indexation processes by establishing a high nominal adjustment benchmark. Thus, total inflation went to 13.1% by the end of 2022. The annual change in food prices, which went from 17.2% to 27.8% between those two years, was the most influential factor in the surge in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Another segment that contributed significantly to price increases was regulated products, which saw the annual change go from 7.1% in December 2021 to 11.8% by the end of 2022. The measure of core inflation excluding food and regulated items, in turn, went from 2.5% to 9.5% between the end of 2021 and the end of 2022. The substantial increase in core inflation shows that inflationary pressure has spread to most of the items in the household basket, which is characteristic of inflationary processes with generalized price indexation as is the case in Colombia. Monetary policy began to react early to this inflationary pressure. Thus, starting with its September 2021 session, the BDBR began a progressive change in the monetary policy stance moving away from the historical low of a 1.75% policy rate that had intended to stimulate the recovery of the economy. This adjustment process continued without interruption throughout 2022 and into the beginning of 2023 when the monetary policy rate reached 12.75% last January, thus accumulating an increase of 11 percentage points (pp). The public and the markets have been surprised that inflation continued to rise despite significant interest rate increases. However, as the BDBR has explained in its various communiqués, monetary policy works with a lag. Just as in 2022 economic activity recovered to a level above the pre-pandemic level, driven, along with other factors, by the monetary stimulus granted during the pandemic period and subsequent months, so too the effects of the current restrictive monetary policy will gradually take effect. This will allow us to expect the inflation rate to converge to 3.0% by the end of 2024 as is the BDBR’s purpose.Inflation results for January and February of this year showed declining marginal increases (13 bp and 3 bp respectively) compared to the change seen in December (59 bp). This suggests that a turning point in the inflation trend is approaching. In other Latin American countries such as Chile, Brazil, Perú, and Mexico, inflation has peaked and has begun to decline slowly, albeit with some ups and downs. It is to be expected that a similar process will take place in Colombia in the coming months. The expected decline in inflation in 2023 will be due, along with other factors, to lower cost pressure from abroad as a result of the gradual normalization of supply chains, the overcoming of supply shocks caused by the weather, and road blockades in previous years. This will be reflected in lower adjustments in food prices, as has already been seen in the first two months of the year and, of course, the lagged effect of monetary policy. The process of inflation convergence to the target will be gradual and will extend beyond 2023. This process will be facilitated if devaluation pressure is reversed. To this end, it is essential to continue consolidating fiscal sustainability and avoid messages on different public policy fronts that generate uncertainty and distrust. 1 This Report to Congress includes Box 1, which summarizes the trajectory of Banco de la República over the past 100 years. In addition, under the Bank’s auspices, several books that delve into various aspects of the history of this institution have been published in recent years. See, for example: Historia del Banco de la República 1923-2015; Tres banqueros centrales; Junta Directiva del Banco de la República: grandes episodios en 30 años de historia; Banco de la República: 90 años de la banca central en Colombia. 2 This is why lower inflation has been reflected in a reduction of income inequality as measured by the Gini coefficient that went from 58.7 in 1998 to 51.3 in the year prior to the pandemic. 3 See Gómez Javier, Uribe José Darío, Vargas Hernando (2002). “The Implementation of Inflation Targeting in Colombia”. Borradores de Economía, No. 202, March, available at: https://repositorio.banrep.gov.co/handle/20.500.12134/5220 4 See López-Enciso Enrique A.; Vargas-Herrera Hernando and Rodríguez-Niño Norberto (2016). “The inflation targeting strategy in Colombia. An historical view.” Borradores de Economía, No. 952. https://repositorio.banrep.gov.co/handle/20.500.12134/6263 5 According to the IMF, the percentage change in consumer prices between 2021 and 2022 went from 3.1% to 7.3% for advanced economies, and from 5.9% to 9.9% for emerging market and developing economies. 6 https://www.banrep.gov.co/es/noticias/junta-directiva-banco-republica-reitera-meta-inflacion-3