LIBERALISM IN COLOMBIA: PERSPECTIVES OF THE CONSTITUTIONALISM OF 1863 AND THE POLARIZED ANTIOQUIAN SOCIETY

Abstract

Liberalism has shaped the Colombian political landscape as it has opposed conservatism and both have made evident the political polarization that is experienced in all spheres of society. The aim of this paper is to analyze the way in which liberal ideas upset Colombian politics and Antioquian society at its most influential moment. To this end, the Constitution of the United States of Colombia of 1863 is studied, and articles and research found in Institutional Repositories and Academic Journals are referenced. On structural issues: first, it contextualizes liberalism in some moments of Colombian Constitutionalism and talks about neoliberalism in Colombia; then, the implications of liberalism in the federal context and in the individual rights of the 1863 Constitution are evidenced; and, in a third moment, it examines some features of political parties in Antioquian society, which is characterized by being regionalist and deeply polarized. It is concluded that liberalism has not been alien to the Colombian reality, since it had a moment of great representation and today the debate on the application of its postulates is very wide, considering it vital to build a political ideal in Colombia.