Challenges to Democracy

Hosted By the Carter Center's Americas Program and its Council of Presidents and Prime Ministers of the Americas

Recent events in Latin America and the Carribean, including the election of a former coup leader in Venezuela, the third-term candidacy of Peru President Alberto Fujimori, a coup in Ecuador, and the failed constitutional reform in Guatemala and subsequent election of a party led by retired military officials, have led to serious concerns about the direction of democracy in the region. Americas Program's Council of Presidents and Prime Ministers of the Americas selected the conference topic as an expression of their concern. Held in October 2000 at The Carter Center, the conference addressed the resurgence of populist leaders, the decline of political parties, the need for greater public security, and the many ways the military continues to intervene in Latin American politics.

The conference culminated with a statement in English or Spanish on concrete recommendations to improve the quality of democracy. The recommendations (PDF) were sent to the 2001 Summit of the Americas of the Organization of American States, when the hemisphere's heads of state will consider the most important issues affecting the region in April 2001. Strengthening democracy has been a recurring focus since the first summit in 1994.

The reports and remarks presented at the conference are in PDF and require an Adobe Reader to access. For a free download of the Reader, access Adobe Reader Download.

• Conference Overview
• Visión General de la Conferencia
• Agenda
• Participants
• Participants' Bios
• Rapporteurs' Report: Summary of the Working Group Recommendations
• Kenote Address by Venezuela President Hugo Chávez
• Discurso de Apertura en la Cena Inaugural de la Conferencia escrito por Venezuela President Hugo Chávez
• Conference Remarks by Porfirio Muñoz Ledo
• Comentarios de la Conferencia escrito por Porfirio Muñoz Ledo
• Latinobarometro Survey - Data 1996-2000 by Marta Lagos
• Pending Issues and Perspectives of Political Democratization in Latin America by Manuel Antonio Garretón M.
• Prepared Remarks by Kenneth H. "Buddy" MacKay Jr.
• When Democracy Isn't All That Democratic: Social Exclusion and the Limits of the Public Sphere in Latin America by Philip Oxhorn
• Populism and Democracy in Latin America by Dr. Kenneth Roberts
• Towards a Representation Revolution: Constitutional Reform, Electoral Systems, and the Challenges to Democracy in Latin America by Matthew Soberg Shugart
• The Citizens' Audit on the Quality of Democracy in Costa Rica: Improving Accountability And Civic Participation in a Mature Democracy by Jorge Vargas Cullel
• Institutional Design and Accountability in Latin America by Laurence Whitehead
• Democracia, Pobreza y Desigualdad: Impacto de la Politica en el Desarrollo - Notas para la Discusión escrito por Edmundo Jarquín
• La Calidad de la Democracia escrito por Adolfo E. Nanclares
• The Quality of Democracy: An Informal Translation by Adolfo E. Nanclares