The Quality of Democracies in Latin America PDF
Preview The Quality of Democracies in Latin America
The Quality of Democracies in Latin America The Quality of Democracies in Latin America The Quality of Democracies in Latin America Lead writer Leonardo Morlino Contributors Juan Rial Manuel Alcántara Sáez Massimo Tommasoli Daniel Zovatto © 2016 International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance International IDEA Strömsborg SE-103 34, STOCKHOLM SWEDEN Tel: +46 8 698 37 00, fax: +46 8 20 24 22 Email: [email protected], website: www.idea.int First published in Spanish as La calidad de las democracias en América Latina: Informe para IDEA Internacional (Stockholm and San José: International IDEA, 2013). A second, revised Spanish edition was published in 2014. The electronic version of this publication is available under a Creative Commons Attribute-NonCommercial- ShareAlike 3.0 licence. You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the publication as well as to remix and adapt it provided it is only for non-commercial purposes, that you appropriately attribute the publication and that you distribute it under an identical licence. For more information on this licence see: <http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/>. International IDEA publications are independent of specific national or political interests. Views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the views of International IDEA, its Board or its Council members. Translator: Charles Roberts Cover design: Turbo Design Layout and typesetting: Turbo Design Printed by: AGS Custom Graphics, An RR Donnelley Company ISBN: 978-91-7671-050-0 Contents List of tables and figures 7 .......................................................................................................................................... Preface 9 .................................................................................................................................................................................................... Foreword and acknowledgements 13 ........................................................................................................... 1. Introduction 17 ......................................................................................................................................................................... The quality of democracy in Latin America 35 years after the start of the third wave of democratization in the region 17 ............... A change of epoch: global and regional trends 19 ........................................................... The impact of global and regional changes on the quality of democracy in Latin America 20 ...................................................................................................................... 35 years holding our breath 21 ......................................................................................................................... Support for and satisfaction with democracy 22 ............................................................... Strengthening electoral democracy 23 ............................................................................................. Tasks pending 23 .................................................................................................................................................................... Halfway there: much has been achieved but much remains to be done 29 .................................................................................................................................................... What, then, is a quality democracy? 33 ............................................................................................ The current debate about the quality of democracy 35 ........................................... Final considerations 39 ................................................................................................................................................ 2. Theoretical framework 43 .................................................................................................................................... Literature review 43 .......................................................................................................................................................... Quality and qualities 46 ................................................................................................................................................ Procedures 48 ............................................................................................................................................................................. Substantive dimensions 56 .................................................................................................................................... Outcomes 59 .................................................................................................................................................................................. 3. Empirical analysis 63 ..................................................................................................................................................... A general overview of Latin America 63 .......................................................................................... Further examination of sub-dimensions 75 ................................................................................. Critical issues and policy recommendations 79 ................................................................... 4. Concluding remarks 91 ................................................................................................................................................ 5. Postscript: the quality of democracy 95 ........................................................................................ The end of the consensus regarding the definition of democracy and its relationship with republicanism 95 ................................... The performance of elected governments and democracy 96 .................... The ‘new caudillos’ 98 ................................................................................................................................................... Difficulties implementing ‘negative integration’ 99 ........................................................ 5 Attempts to create mechanisms of direct democracy and the development of new institutions have not always strengthened democracy 100 ............................................................................................................................................................................... Current political discourse in a market economy and society 101 ............ Social changes condition institutional development 102 ......................................... There is no question that the position of women in Latin America has improved, but the situation of youth has not improved as much 103 ....................................................................................................................................................... Social protest as a constant and the new forms it takes: virtual assemblies 104 .............................................................................................................................................................................. Rule of law, elections, participation and other relevant issues on the day-to-day agenda of proposed institutional changes 105 ............. A basic agenda for discussion on institutions 106 .............................................................. Final general consideration 108 ......................................................................................................................... 6. The new constitutionalism: re-foundational constitutions 111 ................... 7. Politics and the quality of democracy in Latin America: considerations to supplement the analysis 123 ..................................................................... Politics in Latin America from 1978 to the Present 123 ............................................. The quality of democracy in Latin America in 2012 in diachronic perspective 127 ............................................................................................................................................................................ Final considerations 136 ................................................................................................................................................ References and further reading 140 ..................................................................................................................... Annexes 150 ................................................................................................................................................................................................... Annex 1. Basic sub-dimensions and guiding questions 151 .......................................... The rule of law 151 .................................................................................................................................................................. Electoral accountability 152 .................................................................................................................................... Inter-institutional accountability 153 ........................................................................................................ Political participation 154 ............................................................................................................................................ Political competition 155 ............................................................................................................................................... Freedom 156 ....................................................................................................................................................................................... Solidarity and equality 156 ......................................................................................................................................... Responsiveness 157 .............................................................................................................................................................. Annex 2. Quantitative assessment of dimensions and sub-dimensions 158 ................................................................................................................................................ Annex 3. Summaries of qualitative country reports (2011–12) 165 .................... About the authors 208 ................................................................................................................................................................. About International IDEA 212 .......................................................................................................................................... About LUISS 214 .................................................................................................................................................................................... 6 List of tables and figures Tables Table 3.1. The quality of democracy in Latin America: summary 64 ................. Table 3.2. The ‘un-rule’ of law: the ranking of sub-dimensions 69 ...................... Table 3.3. Political participation and political competition: the ranking 71 ........................................................................................................................................................................................... Table 3.4. Freedom and equality: the ranking 72 .............................................................................. Table 3.5. Participation and competition vis-à-vis freedom and equality: the ranking 74 ................................................................................................................ Table 3.6. Main threats to democratic quality faced by the countries of Latin America 87 ................................................................................................................. Table 3.7. Procedural deficits and specific policy recommendations 88 ............................................................................................................................................... Table 7.1. Freedom House Index 129 ........................................................................................................................ Table 7.2. Democratic Development Index in Latin America 130 .............................. Table 7.3. The EIU Democracy Index 131 .......................................................................................................... Table 7.4. The Bertelsmann Transformation Index 132 ............................................................. Table 7.5. Pearson correlations of the various indices for 2012 133 ..................... 7 Figures Figure 3.1. The lowest-quality democracies 65 .................................................................................. Figure 3.2. Evolution of corruption and poverty in Venezuela, 1989–2010 66 ............................................................................................................................................... Figure 3.3. The highest-quality democracies 67 ............................................................................... Figure 3.4. The most unequal democracies 68 .................................................................................... Figure 3.5. Independence of the judiciary, 1990–2010 70 .................................................. Figure 3.6. Government responsiveness in Latin America compared 75 ...... Figure 3.7. Distribution of country scores covering all the sub-dimensions of the rule of law 76 ........................................................................................... Figure 3.8. Distribution of country scores covering all the sub-dimensions of electoral accountability 78 ............................................................ Figure 3.9. The Gini Index for the countries analysed 81 ................................................... Figure 3.10. Civil liberties and political rights in Latin America 86 ..................... Figure 7.1. Country profiles based on democracy indices 135 ....................................... Figure 7.2. Profiles of countries based on trends in democracy indices 2008–12 136 ............................................................................................................................. 8
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