The question of whether democracy is sustainable in Latin America is a question that has been discussed in many books, classrooms, and in many governments throughout the world. If you look at the history of Latin America and study the different types of governments that have come and gone you will see that the United States has made many efforts to bring democracy to Latin America. There are many reasons why democracy has had difficulty dominating the governments in Latin America. Some of these reasons include but are not limited to religion, the military, the influence of communism, and culture itself. But there is not a text book answer to why only the opinions of authors and diplomats from around the world. Harold E. Davis stated in his journal article that “Democracy like dictatorship is not absolute. It exists in many different forms and degrees. It is a fact of history, not a proposition of theology.” (Davis pg. 45) I think this is a wonderful statement about democracy that can be applied to Latin America. (Davis)
Some would say that democracy has existed in Latin America for some time. As Harold E. Davis wrote in his article titled “Democracy in Latin America”, the people of Latin America are democratic but their democracy is expressed differently than other democratic countries. When people ask the question about democracy they tend to compare Latin America to the Unites States. There is a big difference in culture between the two and it is difficult to make a fair comparison. Davis believes that Latin America people express their democracy differently through their behavior and institutions. Democracy can exist in many different forms and you see all these different forms around the world. In Latin America there are diffe...
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...ctions”. This leave open for interpretation the goals of the democracy and means of getting to the goals. When anyone hears the word democracy they first attribute it to democracy in the United States. Anything discussed after that will be compared to our government. I have a difficult time comparing the needs and goals of a different country with a different background, culture, and geographic location to ours. You have to take into account all of the factors when you attempt to answer the question of whether or not democracy is possible on Latin America. In my opinion based on the research I conducted it is. It has been successfully put into place in many countries throughout Latin America and has been spreading. If you look at the needs of the people and set the goals based on the above factors you can implement a successful government and succeed as a democracy.
“Latin America includes the entire continent of South America, as well as Mexico. Central America, and the Caribbean Islands. Physical geography has played an important role in the economic development of Latin America.” (Doc A and Doc G) Latin America has many unique cultural characteristics, industrial products, agricultural products, and human activity.
Before that can be established, I think a definition of democracy should be stated so that it may be called upon later in this essay. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, democracy is stated as "the principle of social equality and respect for the individual within a community" .
While several other countries have democracies, they are very different from the United States. As Tocqueville described, America had fertile soil where roots can grow, broad territory where people can gain land and make a living, no feudal aristocracies, minimal taxes, and few legal restraints. Also the westward expansion gave opportunities to independent farmers, which made democracy work. All these things are not the only reason why a democracy worked, but also what Tocqueville said about the people.
After gaining independence, Latin American countries had difficulty in how to govern the newly instated states. In the chaos, people took advantage of this and instated themselves as dictators. They had simply took the position from the Spanish that they tried to vanquish (class notes). The power structure remained and the people who fought for independence were largely ignored and continuously oppressed. These dictatorships had remained in power until very recently. Paraguay was finally freed from the dictatorship in 1989 (Chapter
Peeler, John A. Latin American Democracies. Chapel Hill, NC and London: The University of North Carolina Press, 1985. Print.
In a country full of conflict, uneven distribution of wealth, and a corrupt system of government, there comes a time when the people have had enough. The people of El Salvador had been dealing with living conditions far less than adequate. Some would say the working conditions of these people is closer to slavery than it is to a job. The labor force of El Salvador rotates around the giant coffee industry that is controlled by the lucky few dozen families with all of the money. These families control a major part of the economy of El Salvador. The people moved to expand the distribution of wealth out of the elite causing a civil war. The route to freedom for the people of El Salvador was a route of constant failure and violence. I believe that the path to democracy needs to start with modernization of the country before making the shift to a democratic society because it is necessary to have a country that is relatively stable, a society that is progressive with education, infrastructure, and an economy that will promote the benefits of an economy. You cannot pursue democracy when your country is in the midst of a war against itself. It is also necessary to change the mindset of the elite to see the benefits of a democracy so power can then be distributed more
A memorable expression said by President Abraham Lincoln reads, “Democracy is government of the people, by the people, and for the people”. Democracy, is a derived from the Greek term "demos" which means people. It is a successful, system of government that vests power to the public or majority. Adopted by the United States in 1776, a democratic government has six basic characteristics: (i) established/elected sovereignty (where power and civic responsibility are exercised either directly by the public or their freely agreed elected representative(s)), (ii) majority rule(vs minority), (iii) (protects one’s own and reside with) human rights, (iv) regular free and fair elections to citizens (upon a certain age), (v) responsibility of
Firstly, K. Isbester mentions that democracy has a different meaning for everyone, as some can define democracy as a good aspect for development, on the contrary other believe that it is nothing more than voting after several years. Although, Latin America see democratic g...
The myth of democracy is obliterated by a form of minority rule. The United States is not a democracy, but an oligarchy or plutocracy. Only on the local level is democracy alive and well, and this is an uprising problem. On the state and national levels, a small elite group rules, and democracy, the rule of the people, is merely a façade. Democracy is also only suitable paired with a free economy; it can only exist, in substance, in an economy of
Democracy is robust, widely accepted and highly anticipated around the world. It is the triumphant form of government; dominantly used in Europe, North and South and America and becoming reformed and taking new roots in Africa and Asia. Although the term democracy is based on its Greek origin, demos kratos, meaning people rule, the term cannot be simply understood as such. Due to vast coverage, the adaptation of democracy has varied greatly, whether regionally, nationally, by state or through different branches of government. Perhaps this can be advantageous when the different categorizations listed above can use democracy to rule and suit themselves best, but other factors, such as globalization and neoliberalism, has caused the need for
Democracy is “...the word that resonates in people’s minds and springs from their lips as they struggle for freedom and a better way of life...” (Schmitter and Karl, 1991:75). However, the word democracy has many different means depending on the country and context it is used in. “Every country has is own culture and comes by its political system through its own history” (Greenberg, 2007:101, cited in Li, 2008:4). Li, (2008) states that because of China’s political structure the usual road to democracy may be difficult for it to achieve. The western idea ...
As indicated previously, the developmental stage of a country is a large determining factor as to whether or not democracy can truly survive in the country. A developed country that is able to practice democracy must have a strong fundamental basis, strong support, participation, minimum apathy and above all must maintain the trust of the citizens it holds in order to remain in close ties with the people they represent. On the topic of trust, a fair and democratic government must avoid corruption at all cost. It is its sovereignty that a democratic union holds on dearly to so that it is recognized and followed. The modern day developed countries that swear by the democratic system have displayed, in moments, cooperation with people allowing them to gain a knowledge of what is going on beh...
The idea of democracy in Islam has confused a lot of people. Even I, myself do not know whether to believe in it as there are many Islamic scholars calling Islamic principles and democracy as two sides of the same coin. My opinion is that democracy cannot work here in the third-world countries because majority of the people are un-educated and are used to the tribal system of their villages and cannot analyze the righteousness of a person. They will continue to choose their leaders according to tradition as can be seen in Pakistan.
There have been enormous efforts to spread democracy as a political system throughout the world by the developed democratic countries and the international development organizations including the World Bank. By the late 1990s the United States alone spent over a half billion dollars to promote democratic expansion throughout the world (Diamond, 2003). These were done considering that the democratic system leads towards development. As a result in the late 20th century we saw a huge political transformation towards democracy. During the last few decades a huge number of countries adopted democracy as their political system. However, it retain a big question how far democracy is successful in bringing development of a country? At this stage, some people also criticizes the effort of democratization arguing that it is done without considering the context of a country, sometimes democracy is not ideal for all countries and it is an effort to extinct diversity of political system. In studying the literature regarding the debate, we found a paradoxical relationship between democracy and development. Some argue that democracy has failed to ensure expected outcomes in terms of development. While others confronted that democracy has a considerable impact on development. Another group of people argue that form of political system actually does not have any impact on development process. On the verge of these debates, some development institutions and academics throw light on why democracy is not working properly, and what measure should be taken to make it more successful in bringing effective development of developing countries. Consequently, this writing is an effort of revisiting the different views about impact of democra...
Democracy, in its truest sense, does not exist. There is no political authority currently existing where every person contributes an equal amount to the decision-making process of the authority’s directives. The election of officials and representatives by the populace does not, in itself, automatically result in the most democratic and widely accepted directives being enacted. However, this does not decrease the political power of the authorities, nor does it limit their practical power over their jurisdictions.