Why Latin America's Democracies Are Stuck
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This essay documents a tendency toward democratic decline in Latin America in the last two decades. We note, however, that the modal regional pattern is not decline but democratic stagnation. Three factors have contributed to the widespread pattern of stagnation in Latin America: powerful actors that block democratic deepening; poor governing results that fuel dissatisfaction and pave the way for authoritarian populists; and "hybrid states" that violate citizens' rights, fail to provide security and quality public services, and are captured by powerful interests.
The State of Democracy in the Americas
Although most countries in the Americas have continued to perform in the mid-range across the four main categories of democracy, the region has experienced greater democratic contraction than expansion in the past five years.
Dangerous Alliances: Populists and the Military
Across Latin America, alliances between politicians and officers are again enabling the military to influence politics and policies. In Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro [gave] a significant share of cabinet seats to current or former officers. While some have argued that soldiers may offer the incorruptible expertise needed for solving the region’s pressing problems, Latin America’s painful history suggests otherwise.
Santiago Files (2012)
The documentary covers a turbulent time in Chile's political history with election of Salvador Allende, a self-described Marxist and ending with a military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet.
Why Latin America's Democracies Are Stuck
Source: Mainwaring, Scott and Aníbal Pérez-Liñán. Journal of Democracy, vol. 34 no. 1, 2023, p. 156-170. Project MUSE, https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2023.0010
Copyright © National Endowment for Democracy and the Johns Hopkins University Press.
The State of Democracy in the Americas
Source: THE GLOBAL STATE OF DEMOCRACY 2023: The New Checks and Balances by Democracy Assessment team at
International IDEA, www.idea.int
2024 © International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, Stockholm, Sweden. Terms
Dangerous Alliances: Populists and the Military, GIGA Focus Latin America
Source: Adam Scharpf (2020) 1, Hamburg: German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA), https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-66812-6
License: Creative-Commons license Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0
Santiago Files (2012)
Source: Cetywa Powell [Director], Tubi Inc., https://tubitv.com/movies/578848/santiago-files