Presidential Regimes in Contemporary Latin America

Abstract

Presidentialism is an old feature of Latin American politics and a recurrent subject of study in political science. But the interest in how presidential institutions operate has revived at current times when elected incumbents have become the greatest threat to democratic survival, i.e. central political figures in processes of democratic backsliding or erosion. In fact, Latin American democratic institutions – certainly as part of a worldwide trend – have been testing their strength and resilience while facing abuses by populist and ideologically extreme candidates who, after being elected in free and competitive elections, use their powerful position to erode checks and balances, implement abrupt policy changes, manipulate electoral and other rules, and undermine civil liberties.

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