The Republic of Paraguay is governed under the constitution of 1992, which is the country's sixth since independence from Spain in 1811.
Independence
The recorded history of Paraguay began in 1516 with the failed expedition of Juan Díaz de Solís to the Río de la Plata estuary, which divides Argentina and Uruguay. After further voyages of conquest, Paraguay became another of Spain's South American colonies. Paraguay finally gained its independence from Spain in 1811.
Constitutional Governmental Regulations of 1813
The Constitutional Governmental Regulations, approved by the Congress of Paraguay two years after its independence from Spain in October 1813. The Constitutional Governmental Regulations contained seventeen articles, providing for a government by headed by two consuls, José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia and Fulgencio Yegros. The framers also provided for a legislature of 1,000 representatives. Recognizing the importance of the military in the embattled country, the framers gave each consul the rank of brigadier general and divided the armed forces and arsenals equally between them. However within ten years of adoption the Constitutional Governmental Regulations, both Consul Yegros and the Paraguayan legislature had been eliminated and Francia ruled directly until his death in 1840.
Constitution of 1844
In 1841 Francia's successor, Carlos Antonio López, asked the legislature to revise the Constitutional Governmental Regulations. Three years later, a new constitution granted López powers as broad as those Francia had used to govern. Congress could make and interpret the laws, but only the President could order that they be promulgated and enforced. The constitution placed no restrictions on the powers of the president, beyond limiting his term of office to ten years. There was no mention of the word liberty in the entire text. Congress subsequently made López president for life. He died in 1862 after 22 years of rule. His son, Francisco Solano López, ruled under this constitution as well.
Constitution of 1870
At the end of the disastrous Paraguayan War (1865 - 1870), a Constituent assembly adopted a new constitution in November 1870, which, with amendments, remained in force for seventy years. The constitution was based on principles of popular sovereignty, separation of powers, and a bicameral legislature consisting of a Senate and a Chamber of Representatives. Although its tenor was more democratic than the two previous constitutions, extensive power over the government and society in general remained in the hands of the President.
Constitution of 1940
On February 18, 1940 President José Felix Estigarribia responded to a political stalemate by dissolving Congress and assuming emergency powers. To dramatize his government's desire for change, he scrapped the 1870 constitution and promulgated a new one on July 10, 1940. It was based on the 1937 Brazilian constitution which had established the Estado Novo regime. Reflecting the authoritarian cast of that document, as well as Estigarribia's concern for stability and power, the constitution provided for an extremely powerful state, with sweeping powers vested in the executive. The president now was chosen in direct elections for a term of five years, and was eligible for a second term. He could intervene in the economy, control the press, suppress private groups, suspend individual liberties, and take exceptional actions for the good of the state. He also had the power to declare a state of siege, which allowed him to suspend civil liberties in either the entire country or a portion of it for 90 days. The Senate was abolished and a unicameral Chamber of Representatives reduced in power. A new advisory Council of State was created, modeled on the experience of corporatist Italy and Portugal, to represent group interests including business, farmers, bankers, the military, and the Roman Catholic Church. The military was entrusted with responsibility to safeguard the Constitution. On August 4, 1940 a referendum approved this constitution.
Constitution of 1967
After taking power in 1954, President Alfredo Stroessner governed for the next thirteen years under the constitution of 1940. A Constituent Assembly elected in 1967 drafted a new constitution that went into force later that year. It maintained the overall authoritarian character of the 1940 document, including the broad powers vested in the president. Nevertheless, it reinstated the Senate and renamed the lower house the Chamber of Deputies. In addition, the assembly allowed the president to be reelected for another two terms beginning in 1968.