Report on Citizenship Law: Bolivia In this phase, civil society began to self-organise and express its economic and social demands, fostering significant conflicts such as strikes and peasant uprisings in defence of communal lands and against the violation of human rights on behalf of local authorities. The constitution of 188015 established the same parameters in order to be considered Bolivian, not introducing any variation in what had been legislated by government thus far. According to demographic data, around 1930, only between 300.000 and 400.000 persons were registered as literate, and thus qualified to become citizens, out of a total of 2,000,000 inhabitants16. The Chaso war (1932-1935), which pitted Bolivia against Paraguay, in addition to a thunderous military defeat, had important internal political consequences, as it enabled, for the first time, the encounter of Bolivians from all corners of the country who had been forcefully recruited. This gave way to what was called “the democratisation of the trenches”, which led to the development of national consciousness. The construction of the project of the Bolivian nation was embodied in the organisation of alternative political parties and expressions to those in existence, representing a broader political and symbolic universe, which questioned the domination of anti-national and colonial oligarchies. In effect, the consequences of the Chaco war and the changes that followed would create the conditions for a more active participation of society in politics and the organisation of their demands, for example, against the landowning regime and the ‘pongueaje’, which entailed servile submission to landowners without any legal defence or justice against their abuse and corporal punishment. The constitution of 193817 introduced new contrivances for regulating the issues of citizenship and nationality: A) the specific mention that women who were married to a foreigner did not lose their nationality and that foreign women married to a Bolivian could acquire the Bolivian nationality as long as they resided in the country . B) the loss of nationality which occurs in the following cases: “1) for taking arms or providing services in enemy armies during times of war and 2) For providing the same services in foreign armies, in time of civil or international war, without permission of the Government”. This is interesting, as none of the previous constitutions mention the possibility of losing nationality for any of these reasons. The loss of nationality was understood to occur when acquiring a new one and it could be recovered when returning to live in the country. C) nationality could be acquired by foreigners who had resided in the country for three years and who had obtained the citizenship card; the word residence appears for the first time, replacing the word ‘settle’. It is in this context of social and emancipatory changes that the constitution of 1938 was approved. This marked a watershed in memory because it expressed the new emerging ideology and entailed the end of classic constitutionalism governed by liberal individualism and private property. In this way, social constitutionalism was introduced –or second generation rights– which translated into the inclusion of social rights and new civil and political rights, such as the right to meet and associate for different purposes that were not contrary to the security of the State, to receive instruction and teach under the supervision of the State, and the right to strike. These rights had already been established years before by other countries in the region. Along with this, the State was given social responsibilities and all types of servitude were disapproved, 15 Constitución Política del Estado de 1880 Klein, op.cit. 17 Constitución Política del Estado de 1938 16 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/2 - © 2020 Author 5