Democratic Consolidation in Latin America : Comparative Case Analysis and Theoretical Revision

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This research aims at looking at the existing theories of democratic consolidation and searching for a better theory through analyzing the democratization process of five Latin American countries : Chile, Brazil, Mexico, Peru and E1 Salvador. Although some Latin American countries still observe illegal exercise of power by the govemments or the lack of political order, it is the first time in its history that democratic regimes spread so broadly and persistently in the region. Theories of democratic consolidation are multiple. On the one hand, there are authors who emphasize the importance of long-term structural factors such as economic development and the resultant social pluralism, power balance among social classes and the growth of "civil society." On the other hand, there are theories that emphasize short-term behavioral factors such as political strategies, modes of democratic transition and political institutions. This research, however, revealed that all of these theories are highly insufficient in explaining Latin American experiences. The common factor shared by all Latin American countries with different social and political characteristics is the long exhaustive social conflict that precipitated political learning for peaceful co-existence among the elite and the general public. The most important factor that explains the persistence of democratic regimes in Latin America is the broad national consensus with regard to the importance of the procedural democracy regardless of the policy result on the economic and social matters. This means that a reverse learning on the meaninglessness of democratic regimes may be precipitated if people's economic and social aspirations are not met for an extended period of time. In any case, this view that emphasizes political learning through inter-subjective interactions is affinitive to the constructivist approach.