Latin America's Institutions: Lessons to Save Our Democracy

Classical studies of Latin America argued that conflict between the president and the opposition in congress is a source of democratic instability. This presentation shows instead that conflictual institutions can help us protect democracy in times of political polarization. A comparative study of 18 Latin American countries between 1925 and 2016 yields important lessons to understand contemporary cases like Brazil and Venezuela, but also challenges to democracy in the United States.

Aníbal Pérez-Liñan is Professor of Political Science and Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame, and Editor in Chief of the Latin American Research Review (LARR). He is the author of Presidential Impeachment and the New Political Instability in Latin America (Cambridge University Press, 2007) and of Democracies and Dictatorships in Latin America: Emergence, Survival, and Fall (with Scott Mainwaring, Cambridge University Press, 2013).