Presidentialism in Latin America

Abstract

Support for democracy fell from 63% in 2010 to 48% in 2018, while trust in democratic institutions and actors (e.g., electoral courts, congress, parties, and the judiciary) has also experienced an important drop in recent years, according to Latinobarómetro’s (2021) last report. Some Latin American democracies have fallen prey to severe sociopolitical conflicts, such as Brazil, Ecuador, Chile, and Peru since 2018, among others, which have posed important challenges for governance and forced some presidents out of office (for example, Evo Morales in Bolivia and more recently Pedro Castillo in Peru). Curiously, Latin America also faces challenges coming from the other extreme presidents who have even managed to broaden their influence through either legal or questionable procedures and reforms. This panel shed lights on what explains these challenges to Latin American presidential democracies. Specifically, the panel offers a discussion on whether popular support toward the president and Congress in Peru account for the country’s “endless instability,” presidents’ use of referendums regarding term limits, the part played by parties in presidential survival and crises, the causes of electoral support for populist parties and leaders, why presidents introduce changes to the structure of congress, and how presidents use unilateral administrative decisions to deal with hostile legislatures (Brazil 1990-2022).

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