DEMOCRACY, AUTHORITARIANISM AND THE PROBLEM OF GOVERNABILITY IN LATIN-AMERICA

This article argues that most Latin American countries lack effective institutions that can articulate and represent the multiple interests which emerge within civil society, as well as developed and implement coherent policies for carrying out the fundamental tasks of governing. In order for the political class to be able to ensure democratic consolidation and effectively resolve the economic crisis, institution must be strengthened and it must be recognized that the problems of governability and democratic consolidation are nothing more than two sides of the same coin. Under current circumstances the reconstruction of public authority (intimately tied to the question of governability) necessarily implies the strengthening of party and sectoral representation. The recent experience of four countries - Argentina, Brazil Chile and Mexico - demonstrates the appropriatness of these conclusions, and also suggest that it is important not to forget that the primordial objective of institutional development is the consolidation of democratic regimes.