Latin American Democratic Failures Offer Warning Signs to the U.S.
By Katherine Alperin
Most Americans fear that U.S. democracy is at risk of extinction. Unfortunately, these fears may not be unfounded. As January 6 rioters go on trial for their attempt to stop the peaceful transfer of Presidential power, President Donald Trump continues to claim fraudulent election results, and populist leaders have gained traction on both sides of the American political spectrum. In recent decades, populist leadership has contributed to great instability in Latin America. Important lessons on democratic preservation, or the lack thereof, can be gleaned from analyzing the tumultuous history of our southern neighbors.
The third wave of democratization in Latin America was met with varying results. The historical legacy of colonial paternalism coupled with the region's familiarity with repressive dictatorships all but ensured that the newly sovereign democratic republics had little experience with autonomous political leadership. This history led to a plague of governmental instability and bureaucratic deficiency in almost every Latin American nation. One-third of all administrations across the region have been defined by presidential crisis, or the successful removal of a sitting president, in the three-and-a-half decades between 1985 and 2008.
The constitutions of noncorrupt democracies should include formal articles allowing for the impeachment of a corrupt leader, but the absence of codified governmental checks and balances had enabled the overuse of this protocol across Latin America. Impeachment clauses are often intentionally flexible and vague. This reality has enabled them to be weaponized as a tool for political gain across Latin America. This pattern provides evident warnings to the United States during the current unprecedented period of political polarization and reductions in global hegemonic power.
Deliberate political responses to this particular type of institutional weakness create negative feedback loops by increasingly destabilizing each interwoven branch of government and paving the way for escalating rates of corruption. Increasing executive authority and manipulating societal compliance to governmental regulation aggravate this cyclical pattern.
Ecuador's turbulent attempts at establishing a functioning democratic society provides an astute observation into this trend, which has also manifested within countries with repeated presidential ousters such as Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Bolivia, Brazil, Nicaragua, and Paraguay. Most relevant to this discussion is the Ecuadorian presidency of Rafael Correa, who took office at a time of weakening oppositional power. Taking advantage of this, as well as Ecuador's history of presidential crises, Correa undermined democracy in the nation by establishing constituent assemblies, broadened executive powers while slashing critical mechanisms for accountability, and publicly bashed those who disapproved. In 2015, the constitution of Ecuador was amended to eliminate presidential term limits. This is not a unique strategy, other Latin American presidents, namely Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Evo Morales of Bolivia, and Alberto Fujimori of Peru, have abused their powers in similar ways.
Failure of constitutional checks and balances in the United States is not out of the realm of possibility. As the oldest democracy in the New World, the U.S. has experienced a far greater period of governmental stability and democratic longevity than any of the Latin American nations. However, a series of relatively recent, interrelated political trends in the country have begun to resemble the early warning signs of the democratic failures witnessed across the hemisphere since 1985.
Of most immediate cause for concern is the increasing rate of political polarization in the United States coupled with disproportionate impeachment attempts over the past decades, heavy presidential reliance on executive orders, and the country's potential future propensity for failed, one-term administrations. The continuance of each of these trends may continue to expose vulnerabilities in the U.S. government and erode the value of delicate checks and balances, as was continually the case in Latin America. Democracy may not be as durable as tradition may fool us to believe. Voters and legislators alike must tread carefully.