The paper discusses the concept of post-liberal democracy in South America, from a heterogeneous political, economical, social and cultural map. The line of reasoning behind this study is the argument that post-liberal democracy implies social and political inclusion of new actors, without weakening the existing liberal democratic institutions. Most countries in South America have advanced in recent years as regards the inclusion of new actors or the beams of access to consumer goods and credit, extension of citizenship rights and greater political participation. However, not always ensuring institutional advances already achieved at the end of authoritarian regimes. By contrary, in some countries there is a regression of institutional gains. The countries that have moved forward in both dimensions, such as Brazil, Chile and Uruguay, show an improvement in social and economic indicators, with effects in the quality of democracy, including the consolidation of individual and collective rights which define the relations between the State, society and market. For these cases the use of the concept of post-liberal democracy seems more appropriate. In countries such as Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela, issues like the quality of democracy and the economical and social gains are more questionable, with differences of opinions regarding the maintenance of democratic institutions and its improvement. In these last countries some institutional and political changes can be seen more as illiberal than post-liberal. However, in the last three decades, despite this heterogeneity -including the effects of policy choices and institutional arrangements- in most of South American countries there was, by different ideologies, a greater concentration of political power in Executive in detriment of Legislative.
