Territorial representation and participation in Second Chambers: the federal models in Latin America

Second Chambers are traditionally a mediating element of the relationship between democracy and federalism, although its claim to enable subnational participation in national government has been challenged, with evidence of its inefficiency even for mere territorial representation. This paper aims to discuss the possibilities of cooptation of the territorial essence of the Second Chamber by the political or democratic claim under the lights of Latin American’ federal experiences. Through comparative case studies, it tests the level of unfitness of the Second Chamber for territorial representation in general, and its participatory aspect specifically. The results show that the institutional form of Second Chambers in federal Latin American countries is not up to the representative task nor to the participative one. It opens the discussion of new formats for subnational participation in the central government, as several executive-based structures popped out to operationalize actions and enable negotiation between the center and regional governments.