Leftist governments and the quality of democracy in Latin America

Abstract

The recent history of Latin American politics can be divided in two periods: first, after the end of authoritarian regimes, the region passed through the process of democratization, economic liberalization and the rise of neoliberalism, which lasted until the mid-the 1990s; Later, with the crisis of the neoliberal model, there was the emergence of new political leaderships and groups, the resurgence of social movements and popular backlash against reforms towards the market. In this context, there was the strengthening of leftist political parties/groups that finally came to power in several countries of the region. Based on that recent history, the main objective of this research is to investigate the actions and effects of leftist governments in Brazil (2003-2010), Chile (2000-2010), Bolivia (2006-2010) and Venezuela (1999 - 2010) on the quality of democracy in these countries. (AU)