Democratic survival in Latin America (1945-2005)

Why do democracies survive or break down? In this paper, it returns to this classic question with an empirical focus on Latin America from 1945 to 2005. The argument deviates from the quantitative literature and a good part of the qualitative literature on democratic survival and breakdown. It is ar...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:América Latina, hoy hoy, 2014-12, Vol.68, p.139-139
Main Authors: Perez-Linan, Anibal, Mainwaring, Scott
Format: Article
Language:Spanish
Subjects:
actores políticos
democracia
Democracy
dictadura
Dictatorship
Economic Conditions
Inequality
Latin America
Latin American Cultural Groups
preferencias normativas
Qualitative Methods
Quantitative Methods
Radicalism
radicalismo
United States of America
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Summary:Why do democracies survive or break down? In this paper, it returns to this classic question with an empirical focus on Latin America from 1945 to 2005. The argument deviates from the quantitative literature and a good part of the qualitative literature on democratic survival and breakdown. It is argued that structural variables such as the level of development and inequalities have not shaped prospects for democratic survival in Latin America. Nor, contrary to findings in some of the literature, has economic performance affected the survival of competitive regimes. Instead, it is focused on the regional political environment and on actors' normative preferences about democracy and dictatorship and their policy radicalism or moderation. It is argued that 1) a higher level of development did not increase the likelihood of democratic survival in Latin America over this long time; 2) if actors have a normative preference for democracy, it is more likely to survive; and 3) policy moderation facilitates democratic survival. Adapted from the source document.
ISSN:1130-2887
2340-4396
DOI:10.14201/alh201468139168