Skim for November 18, 2016
For this assignment, I had the privilege of “skimming” an article by The Wall Street Journal. The article is cleverly titled (1) “Politics Is Looking More ‘Latin American’ These Days.”
As indicated within its title, this article works to draw an immediate linkage between the political behaviors of Latin American citizens, to that of the rest of the world. In particular, it clearly displays the many ways in which Latin American political behavior, is very similar to that of North America and European nations. It briefly mentions the rise of support for populist candidates within countries and displaying them as charismatic figures that its citizens can count on to resolve a country’s economic or political failings. This article emphasizes that the sense of hope and opportunity in a nation, not only remains popular in Latin American countries, but in several other countries as well. Many people around the world doubt the charisma and integrity of their government officials (corruption) and because of this, new faces in the political system are favored with the belief that he/she is not running for self-gain, as many would assume “career politicians” do. Like the political culture within Latin America, many other countries have citizens who question the legitimacy of their elections. Just as our current president-elect, Donald J. Trump, has stated towards the end of the campaign season; many believe that our elections may be “rigged” in one’s favor. The article mentions former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, whom which recognized the tendency of “losers” to immediately question the legitimacy of their elections, as soon as they noticed they were on the losing-side. Many democratic countries around the world are beginning to believe that their government is working against them, instead of for them. European countries such as Poland, Hungary and Greece are under the impression that their judiciary serves as an “obstacle” to the democratic will of the people. Because so many people are dissatisfied with their government, like many Latin Americans, they do not value their country’s political and economic institutions.
What I take away from this article:
By reading this article, I can easily notice that it is very unlikely to ever have a “pure democracy.” People will continuously question the legitimacy of their elections as well as turn to their political leaders when something bad occurs (economic distress). Because of the ever-growing stigma attached to politicians, many believe that their government works against them, rather than for them. When the sense of hope is lost amongst the people, the opportunity for a populist leaders becomes very likely.
In the corresponding link, you can easily see the growing disapproval amongst the American (2), Polish (3), Hungarian (4), Brazilian (5) and Greek (6) government.
Shown in Order of Appearance: