Reflections on the Transition to Democracy and its Consolidation in Latin America

The eighties was a period of political upheaval for South American nations, the transition from military to civilian governments elected by universal suffrage being perhaps the most difficult adjustment on the path to democracy. However, according to Montoya Bayardo, South American countries that have made a successful transition to democratic regimes now find themselves on the long and arduous path toward their consolidation. In the author’s opinion, consolidating democracy is a much more complex process than the transition itself, as this implies strengthening and institutionalizing it over time, not merely via the holding of free elections and the restoration of civil liberties, but by creating institutions to safeguard its tenets and guarantee the equality of citizens in the eyes of the state and the law, regardless of opposition from pressure groups or any other entity. The author then goes on to analyze issues common to transitional processes such as these in Latin America, underlining the prerequisites and conditions that determine whether or not a given country has become a consolidated democracy, and looking at the role of the various actors in the process and the factors that affect it. It should be noted that Montoya Bayardo does not aim to take a systematic theoretical and/or methodological approach to this analysis; the intention is simply to share some of his “reflections on the transition to democracy and its consolidation in Latin America.”