Latin America: Democracy In Peril As Populism Lurches In Upcoming Elections

As nearly two thirds of Latin America will pick a new leader over the upcoming 12 months, and a further eight countries will hold elections in 2019, we should not be so quick to dismiss the risk of a populist backlash in the region. Most international observers think this is a crisis that is now in Latin America's past, but they are wrong, according to a Foreign Policy piece by Brian Winter and Robert Muggah.

The problem for international observers has been to focus on the ideological position of elected leaders. There was plenty of talk about the region's "pink tide" in the 2000s, and its more recent reversal, as more conservative, right-of-center leaders took the foreground in recent years. And while this short-lived track of governments deserves our attention, we also need to look beyond it to gauge the actual risk of a return to authoritarianism and rule by strongmen – the risk is all too real, as some of the countries in the region have shown.

Democracy: Here to Stay? 

In a context of weak institutions and a stripe of democracy that is far from consolidated, moderates need to persuade voters that they can preserve what little progress the region has made in applying liberal reforms and opening up democratic rights. But they also need to ensure they can deliver solutions to address some of the most pressing, real issues people face.

The reason is that voters are more concerned about the state of the economy, the lack of opportunities, or the prevalence of corruption, than they are in maintaining democratic institutions. Latin American's trust in democratic institutions, indeed, has dropped 14 per cent between 2010 and 2017, according to a recent opinion poll. And as voters take to the polls, they will probably be more concerned about their basic needs – food, shelter, security – than about who provides it, or by what means.