Clough Center explores state of constitutional democracy in Colombia
The Boston College Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy sent a delegation of faculty members, students, and special guests鈥攊ncluding center founder and namesake Charles Clough Jr. 鈥�64鈥攖o a recent weeklong fact-finding mission in Bogota, Colombia that examined political and social challenges to Colombian democracy 10 years after the historic 2016 peace accords.
The meetings, which took place at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana from February 28 to March 5, focused on the Clough Center鈥檚 unifying theme of 鈥淒emocratic Resilience鈥� for the 2025-2026 academic year: 鈥渢he capacity of democratic institutions and peoples to adapt and improve in the aftermath of shocks to their constitutional system,鈥� according to the center.
Colombia鈥檚 2026 election cycle is critical to the country鈥檚 quest to ease economic and social tensions, according to conference organizers. The Bogota event included panel discussions on subjects such as elections monitoring, restorative justice, and peacebuilding. The group also met privately with former Colombian presidents Juan Manuel Santos and Ernesto Samper Pizano; the president of the Commission for Truth, Reconciliation and Non-Repetition, Francisco de Roux, S.J.; a representative of victims of forced disappearances, and also with perpetrators of the violent conflict鈥攊ncluding an ex-guerilla leader and ex-Colombian Army colonel鈥攚ho have recognized and been sanctioned for their earlier roles.
Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy Director Jonathan Laurence, second from left, with (L-R) Francisco de Roux, S.J., who headed the Colombia Truth Commission; former President of Colombia Ernesto Samper Pizano; and Clough Center founder Chuck Clough 鈥�64 at a weeklong conference in Bogota.
Clough was among the featured participants of the delegation, as was Professor of Political Science and Clough Center Director Jonathan Laurence, Assistant Professor of Political Science Fernando Bizzarro, Professor and Chair of Communication Michael Serazio, Clough Center Visiting Fellow Andres Mosquera, and five Clough doctoral fellows.
鈥淣one of us will forget seeing former enemies sit down, acknowledge one another鈥檚 suffering and vow to exit the cycle of revenge,鈥� Laurence said. 鈥淏y placing victims at the center of its peace process and offering lighter sentences to those who acknowledge culpability, Colombia shows one way that a hopelessly polarized conflict can end 鈥攁nd reminds us that mutual commitment to democratic institutions is necessary to maintaining peace.鈥�
The Clough Center will hold its spring symposium March 19 and 20 on campus, with a line-up of speakers that includes Nobel Laureate Daron Acemoglu, New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, Harvard University political scientist Steven Levitsky, and former ACLU President Nadine Strossen. Among the panel discussion topics will be education and free speech as forces for democratic resilience; the impact of international development on democratization; and democracy and its prospects in the Americas, Ireland, and beyond.
For registration and further information, visit听.
听