Institutional Framework Database for Social Policy in Latin America and the Caribbean

Legal and regulatory dimension

The legal and regulatory dimension refers to the existing legal base of the institutional framework of social policy as a central element to identify the State's commitments to guarantee the economic, social, and cultural rights of people. This dimension incorporates the adherence and ratification of international compacts and treaties, the guarantee of rights, and the presence of different social themes in constitutional texts and specific national laws and regulations. Thus, it includes sectoral social laws, especially social development and social protection laws, as well as legislation devoted to specific segments of the population.

Latin America and the Caribbean (33 countries): Mention and coverage of social issues and specific groups with mentions in the Constitution

Country	Year of the constitution observed	Housing	Employment protection/Social Security	Health	Education	Social development	Children and adolescents	Youth	Womens	Older persons	Persons with disabilities	Afro-descendants	Migrants
Antigua and Barbuda	1981		1	1					2		2	2
Argentina	1853	1	1		1	2	1		1	1	1		2
Barbados	1966		2						2		2	2
Bolivia (Plurinational State of)	2009	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Brazil	1988	2	1	1	1	2	1		1	1	1	1	1
Bahamas	1973										2	2
Belize	1981		2	2	2		1				2
Chile	1980		1	1	1	2	1		1				2
Colombia	1991	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Costa Rica	1949	1	1		1		1		1	1	1		1
Cuba	2019	1		1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1		1
Curazao	0
Dominica	1978		2
Dominican Republic	2015	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1		1
Ecuador	2008	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Grenada	1973
Guatemala	1985	1	1	1	1	2	1		1	1	1		2
Guyana	1980	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Honduras	1982	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1		1
Haiti	1987	1	1	1	1	2	1		1	1	1		1
Jamaica	1962						1
Saint Kitts and Nevis	1983		2	2	2
Saint Lucia	1978		2
Mexico	1917	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Nicaragua	1987	1	1	1	1		1		1		1	1	2
Panama	1972	1	1	1	1	1	1		1	1	1		1
Peru	1993		1	1	1		1		1	1	1	1	1
Paraguay	1992	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1		2
Suriname	1987	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2		1
El Salvador	1983	1	1	1	1	1	1		1				1
Trinidad and Tobago	1976
Uruguay	1967	1	1		1		1	1	1	2			2
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	1979
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)	1999	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1

Explicit mention

Indirect mention

No mention

Metadata

For the elaboration of this chart, each States’ Political Constitution in the region was analyzed to identify which of them mention the protection of principal rights regarding sectoral topics and prioritized segments of the population. Certain analysis criteria were established in which these rights could be expressed explicitly (indicated with a green checkmark) or indirectly (indicated with a yellow checkmark). To be categorized as “explicit”, the Constitution must recognize the rights that citizens possess regarding main sectoral topics and the rights of specific population groups, establishing that they are protected by the State and its Constitution. To be categorized as “indirect”, constitutional texts that provided mechanisms for the promotion and protection of sectoral topics and prioritized segments of the population were considered, but without classifying them as social rights.