Latin American Democracy

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The Minimalist Approach to Defining and Strengthening Democracy
Latin America is one of the most diverse regions on the planet, and yet almost all countries in Latin America seem to experience the same governmental trends during the same time periods. Colonialism to independence to populism to authoritarianism to modern democratic transitions; all of which took place roughly at the same time in most if not all Latin American countries. Although it has been decades since most Latin American countries transitioned to democracy, many of those democratic regimes are not yet consolidated, meaning they are not strong enough to prevent a return of a non-democratic regime. For the purpose of this paper the word consolidated will be replaced by strong. …show more content…
Under the minimalist definition, in order for democracy to be considered strong, the procedures of the democracy must be examined, should the democracy live up to the standard of free, fair, competitive, and regular elections it can be considered a strong democracy. Although many other definitions of democracy exist, this is the best one to use when examining Latin America because it is the most restrictive in terms of what constitutes as a democracy. Without the minimal or procedural markers of democracy present, no other aspects of a what a democratic society should possess need to be examined because a country without the bare minimum should not be considered a strong …show more content…
If the transition to democracy takes place following the collapse of the military-led regime, then the bargaining power and influence of the military is significantly reduced. If the transition to democracy is initiated by the military regime, then it has a much higher degree of power and influence over the creation of the democratic regime. According to Guillermo O’Donnell, if a military regime initiates the transition, they will control the entirety of the transaction, maintaining a role in the future democratic government (O’Donnell). For example, in Chile following Pinochet’s transfer of power from his military-led regime to a democratically elected one, Pinochet remained a lifetime senator until his death. The presence of an un-elected military official, like Pinochet, undermines the democratic processes of a regime. In a more broad sense Juan J. Linz and Alfred Stepan argue that the existence of a strong military not checked by the civilian government can lead to a future situation in which the military could arrange another coup, reverting that country back to authoritarianism. For these authors, democracy cannot be strengthened until there is no possibility of a military threat to the democratic regime (Linz/Stepan). The stronger the military comes
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