This article discusses the pattern of changes in the Brazilian constitution since 1988: high amendment rates and endogenous change driven by the judicialization of high-visibility political issues. The article suggests that the change rate in the constitutional text is a poor indicator of constitutional activism: the relevant constitutional changes have been taking place in the high-visibility pattern of "megapolitics". This pattern can be explained by choices made during the constitution-making process: detailed content and relatively permissive amendment rules. The article discusses the incentive structure that leads to those choices and maintains that, in contrast to international experiences, constitutional activism has been taking place in an extensive constitutionalization process. But the political actors did not anticipate the central role of the Brazilian Supreme Court in the Brazilian political system in the last decade.
Constitutional change; Constitutional amendment; 1988 constitution; Megapolitics
