NI UNITARIO, NI FEDERAL, NI AUTONóMICO: CONTIENE LA NUEVA CONSTITUCIóN BOLIVIANA UN INVENTO DE ESTRUCTURA TERRITORIAL ESTATAL?

This paper illustrates that the new Bolivian Constitution passed in January 2009 entails a territorial innovation, where by Bolivia has not only quit being a unitary state, but at the same time, the new model neither coincides with the federal nor with so called regional states. The reason for this is, that the municipal level has been structurally equated with the empowered intermediate level, and both subnational tiers have simultaneously been equated to the national level. To analyze this new construction two theoretical tools are deployed. The first tool is designed to expose the weakness of the traditional unitary vs. federal divide and to subsequently substitute it. The second one offers a new approach for classifying non-unitary options by introducing a new technic, which focuses on the constitutional weight of territorial levels. After revising the key articles of the new constitution, the new classification is tested against paradigmatic international cases. In the last part of the paper an outline of those elements that could counteract the achieved territorial innovation is given.