DEMOCRACY IN LATIN AMERICA What exactly makes a country democratic? And how important is democracy relative to other important things related to government and society? Mainwaring and Perez-Linan: Free and fair, but not necessarily direct, elections for all key lawmakers and the head of government Adult suffrage is universal State protects civil liberties and political rights Armed actors, including military, paramilitary, and criminal groups don’t have a major influence on govt. policy Others? What about the influence of the very wealthy? What about the right to organize labor and civil society? And guaranteed access by these actors to govt? What about the protection of human rights, including a basic degree of access to items that allow for autonomous expression

Where do new democracies have to make tough choices? Where do they differ?: How much should be written down? Preventing tyranny? The rule of law Civil liberties? Civil rights? Majority rule? Why is populism such a problem?... What’s wrong with emphasizing the rights of the poor and undoing past wrongs? Representativeness? Deliberation? Responsiveness? Rotating or forced sharing of power (consocialism) among the right and the left, with both sides governing towards moderation? Federalism and local governance on key issues? Self-checking with independent courts? How free should civil society be to do and say what it wants to (and should there be limits to the concentration of media in the hands of the well off?) More direct accountability to the people’s desires? Term limits? Recalls? Early elections? Direct democracy on big policy questions? Lots of Latin American countries have these. Representatives who look like the people (gender, race, class, age)

DEMOCRACY IN LATIN AMERICA Can you measure democracy in a uniform way so that you can compare societies that have made different choices about what aspects of democracy they will prefer? Is there any bottom line? Do we miss things when we seek uniformity and measurement? What’s the difference between democratic procedures (inputs, including liberties) and democratic governance (outputs, social/basic rights)? What happens when non-state actors undermine core procedures (lots of focus on this in political science)? What happens when they undermine governance (think about the US for a moment?)

ONE WAY OF MEASURING DEMOC – BY LIBERTIES AND RIGHTS (FREEDOM HOUSE)

ANOTHER WAY OF MEASURING DEMOC (JOD 2008) - OUTPUTS Col. 1 (2 = best; 14=worst); Cols. 2-4 (WorldBankm +/- Std. Dev. From world average); Col. 3 (Latinobarometro)

Relationship bw FH score and key variables

What basic basic electoral procedures are required for elections to be democratic? Are all adults allowed/required to vote? Is the process clear enough that all adults can vote? Are elections clean so that voters can autonomously and accurately express their preferences? Is the electorate offered a real range of choices? Do those choices represent the needs of society? Are votes counted equally? Are elections the only route to meaningful power in the state? Are non-state actors buying votes or pressuring voters?

Measuring popular support for democracy in Latin America Why does popular support for democracy matter? What methods should be used for measuring democratic support? What are the limitations with polling? Are their any special issues with polling in Latin America? What specific questions can pollsters use to measure support for democracy? How do Latin Americans see democracy in their countries? What is going on over time? Is there evidence of an emergent democratic political culture?