17
Declining State of Democratic Institutions and
the Implications for Governance
Joel D. Hirst
Much has been written and said in recent years about the state of
democracy in Latin America. There is a certain irrational exuberance
which suggests a sentiment of “mission accomplished” and time to
“move on” for the region. “Remember from 1930 to 1980, 40 percent
of all changes in Latin American governments were through
coup
d’états
,” Arturo Valenzuela, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for
Western Hemisphere Affairs has said. “This is the longest period in
the entire history of the Americas … of continuous constitutional rule.
We are in a very good time now.”
Nevertheless, the democratic advances sustained in Latin America over
the last generation remain tenuous. As former Costa Rican President
Oscar Arias Sanchez stated in his farewell speech in 2010,
“Despite the speeches and applause, the reality is that
our region has advanced little in the last decades. In
certain areas, it has marched resolutely backwards.
Many wish to board a rusted wagon to the past, to the
ideological trenches that divided the world during the
Cold War. Latin America runs the risk of adding to
