What Makes Democracies Endure?

Strange and unsettling turns of events further roiled the already-troubled waters of Guatemalan political life in 2009, driving the crime-ridden country’s shaky democracy to the brink.

Democracy requires robust political equality, but the persistence of social, economic and cultural inequality complicates its realization.

Political competition by itself does not curb corruption. Societies must also have a combination of values, social capital, civil society, and civic culture in order to impose effective normative constraints…