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. We conceptualize democratic stagnation as a situation in which democracies have important and persistent democratic deficits. 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.
About the Authors
Scott Mainwaring
Scott Mainwaring is Eugene and Helen Conley Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame and the coeditor (with Tarek Masoud) of Democracy in Hard Places (2022).
Aníbal Pérez-Liñán is professor of political science and global affairs at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author (with Scott Mainwaring) of “Cross-Currents in Latin America,” which appeared in the January 2015 issue of the Journal of Democracy.
Long an extreme case of institutionalized instability, Ecuador now has a dynamic young president who is determined to remake its constitution, and eventually its society, in the name of "twenty-first-century…
Argentina made headlines around the world last December as its presidency changed hands no fewer than four times in less than two weeks. Lost amid the chaos, however, were hopeful…
A review of Strong Parties and Lame Ducks: Presidential Partyarchy and Factionalism in Venezuela, by Michael Coppedge and Democracy for the Privileged: Crisis and Transition in Venezuela, by Richard S.…
