Democratic Resilience, Trust & Backsliding in Latin America

Abstract

This panel examines democratic resilience, political trust, and processes of democratic backsliding in Latin America through a comparative perspective. The papers explore how democratic systems respond to internal and external pressures, and whether democracy itself can generate conditions that undermine its own stability. Contributions analyse the role of political trust in sustaining democratic resilience, the long-term attitudinal effects of democratic experience, and the institutional vulnerabilities associated with different systems of government. Several papers focus on how social and political inclusion shapes democratic outcomes, including the effects of Indigenous political mobilisation on democratic attitudes and institutional trust in Bolivia and Guatemala. The panel also situates Latin American experiences in comparative perspective, examining divergent strategies of democratic self-defence against far-right challenges in Brazil and the United States. Taken together, the papers offer new empirical insights into the conditions under which democracies endure, erode, or adapt in the face of polarisation, inequality, and political contestation.

Title	Details
Can Democracy Breed its Own Opponents? Evidence from the Last 30 Years in Latin America	View Paper Details
The Effects of Indigenous Political Mobilization on Democratic Attitudes and Institutional Trust: Bolivia and Guatemala Compared	View Paper Details
The Behavioral Effect of Political Trust on Democratic Resilience: Evidence from Latin America	View Paper Details
Systems of Government and Democratic Backsliding	View Paper Details
Divergent Paths of Democratic Self-Defence: Comparing Institutional Responses to the Far Right in Brazil and the United States	View Paper Details