In this paper we analyze the role of the quality of policies, as well as their outcomes, in explaining Colombia s recent performance. Given that we seek to understand why polices delivered better outcomes (in terms of economic growth and social progress) in the past than now, we are specifically interested in variation across time. Rather than analyzing the details, we identify some common characteristics of policies ant the policymaking process (PMP) that can be related to changes in the political institutions. More precisely the purpose of the paper is to understand how the political institutions such as the constitution- map into the policies and policy outcomes.