Sumak Kawsay and its Constitutional Restrictions

Abstract

Sumak kawsay is a millenary principle of the Andean world. However, since the Constitutional Assembly began the discussion around this principle, different reactions aroused: on one hand, there are people who defend sumak kawsay as way of living that rules over the economic, social and political systems of a country, on the other hand, there are those who have assimilated this principle to certain social rights. Someone even has affirmed that sumak kawsay is a latenight invent. We will start clarifying that in the Andean philosophy, sumak kawsay is a system of life. Then, we will briefly analyze sumak kawsay as it is regulated in the Ecuadorian Constitution, referring to the limitations imposed in this instrument, in which sumak kawsay is first assimilated to a constitutional principle, then, as a right for good living, and finally, as a regime for good living.