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DEMOCRACY IN LATIN AMERICA

DEMOCRACY IN LATIN AMERICA. What exactly makes a country democratic?

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DEMOCRACY IN LATIN AMERICA

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  1. DEMOCRACY IN LATIN AMERICA • What exactly makes a country democratic? • Here are some of the tradeoffs: Preventing tyranny? Majority rule? Rotating power among the right and the left, with both sides governing towards moderation? Local governance on key issues? Self-checking? Accountability to the people’s desires? The rule of law Civil liberties? Civil rights? Representativeness? Deliberation? Responsiveness? Direct democracy on big policy questions or at least for recall? • Can you measure democracy in a uniform way so that you can compare societies that have made different choices about what aspects of democracy they will prefer? Is there any bottom line? Do we miss things when we seek uniformity and measurement? • What’s the difference between democratic procedures (inputs, including liberties) and democratic governance (outputs, social/basic rights)? What happens when non-state actors undermine core procedures?

  2. ONE WAY OF MEASURING DEMOC (Freedom House, 20019)

  3. HAY CARAMBA: YET ANOTHER WAY…

  4. AND THEN ANOTHER WAY (UNDP 2004)

  5. What basic electoral procedures are required for elections to be democratic? • Are all adults allowed/required to vote? Is the process clear enough that all adults can vote? • Are elections clean so that voters can autonomously and accurately express their preferences? • Is the electorate offered a real range of choices? Do those choices represent the needs of society? • Are votes counted equally? • Are elections the only route to meaningful power in the state? • Are non-state actors buying votes or pressuring voters?

  6. Measuring popular support for democracy in Latin America • Why does popular support for democracy matter? • What methods should be used for measuring democratic support? • What are the limitations with polling? • Are there any special issues with polling on democracy? Concepts vs. specific components • Are their any special issues with polling in Latin America? • What specific questions can pollsters use to measure support for democracy? • How do Latin Americans see democracy in their countries? • What is going on over time? Is there evidence of an emergent democratic political culture?

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