Too weak or too strong? Curbing presidential power in Latin America

Abstract

It seems common knowledge that Latin American presidents enjoy substantial constitutional powers. This may incorrectly lead some to believe that chief executives in Latin America dominate politics in their home countries. However, reality has regularly shown us that presidential power depends on both formal and informal sources and that presidential influence in domestic politics varies considerably across countries and over time. For instance, there are aggrandized presidents in Venezuela (Nicolás Maduro), Nicaragua (Daniel Ortega) and El Salvador (Nayib Bukele); "challenged" presidents –i.e., those whose authority to govern has been severely questioned– in Chile (Sebastián Piñera), Colombia (Iván Duque) and Peru (Pedro P. Kuczynski and Martín Vizcarra); and a third group of presidents who have attempted (but have not yet succeeded) to amass significant power (Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil and A. López Obrador in Mexico). The panel’s goal is to examine the different patterns of presidential power and the role played by Congress, political parties and social movements in curtailing presidential influence.

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