13
The Political Returns of Democratic Governance
recent experience of Colombia, generally carry on their shoulders the
public perceptions that South America has better governance than
many other regions of the world.
Fourth, a corollary to the above point draws attention to the specific
role of ICTs, including social media. This feeds into a growing
expectation among citizens in Latin America and the Caribbean for
government to use technologies as a means for improved governance.
ICTs are able to offer an effective set of tools for governance program
execution, which can perhaps be categorized into four areas of work:
1) institutional efficiency, 2) improved government communication
with citizens, 3) improved government customer service, and 4)
professional development. This offers innovative approaches to
increase institutional efficiency and effectiveness, accountability and
transparency while also providing innovative approaches for improved
communications between government and citizens. The fact that
authoritarian and populist regimes target media is an indication of the
degree to which ICTs operating in a competitive environment are such
a threat to them. Venezuela under Hugo Chavez, Argentina under the
Kirchners, and Ecuador under Rafael Correa come to mind.
Fifth, while improved standards of citizen participation energize
local governance and empower civil society actors, they are not total
substitutes for a distinct role by other key actors in a democratic society.
The success of democratic governance is not just anchored to an electoral
calendar; it relies on the transformational capacity of political parties to
act as intermediaries with citizens and organized interest groups. The
absence of a competitive political party environment will undermine
the ability of civil society to transform its interests into focused
instruments of public action. A challenge that several Latin American
countries face – in different contexts, Bolivia, Peru and Venezuela for
starters – is a weak or unstable political party environment often tied to
personalities rather than issues. Ultimately, this often deteriorates into
the path of less than democratic governance.
Sixth, democratic governance is a critical component to sustained
