Week #7 (Grades of Democracy)

Both accounts by O’Donnell highlight the fact that the development of democratic outlooks in the political systems of nations in Latin America has been associated with the development of different grades of democracy. There is no single theory that can be applied to the entire cases of democracy in the region because democratic policies are developed through different procedures, and their survival is based on the nature of the transition processes associated with the nations. Essentially, all nations in the Latin region are looking toward attaining democracy and liberalizing their political systems, but their respective histories have led to the adoption of different levels of democracy. While some of the states faced soft transitions from the authoritarian regimes to democratic political systems, others had to face military governance and coups before attaining the current level of democracy.

O’Donnell finds that there are numerous states in Latin America that are still struggling with the adoption of democratic policies. One of the underlying issues is the level of socialization in the states, whereby people are aware of the efforts that need to be applied to lead the nations to a political system that inclines more to absolute democracy, but there is a high level of fear of the unknown. For instance, Latin America and other parts of Europe like Greece that faced transition characterized by chaos that almost tore the nations apart. This led to the development of fear among the people whenever there is hope for a transition because it leaves them susceptible to the development of an authoritarian political leadership through coups and military takeovers. It is apparent that societies in Latin America have failed to completely embrace democracy because of the fear associated with the transition process.

Additionally, it is impossible to adopt a democratic system when there is no theoretical framework upon which the leaders can base the required changes. The lack of a democratic model to use as the blueprint for reforms in the nations has led to the adoption of changes that depict some form of democracy, while traces of the old policies still prevail in the governance process. For instance, Brazilians and Argentines still face the fear of having authoritarian regimes in power. The democratic status of the nations is still not as solid as the Northern American states, and it is characterized by the development of smaller degrees of liberalism. The adoption of human rights and the protection of the rights are solely left to the intentions of the individuals in power. There is a high level of corporatization of governance in some of the Latin American nations, which eliminates the ability of the people to influence the type of policies to be implemented. It is apparent that if the nations in the region have come a long way, following the many years of armed struggle, demonstration against various regimes, and effecting political revolutions, but there is no denying that they are still a long way away from adopting absolute democracy. The young democracies such as Argentina still face issues with the type of governance assumed by the new regimes. While the people know that they need to adopt liberalism and democracy, there still lacks a clear guideline on how to get to that point. However, the associated states have come too far, and there is a clear indication that they will develop their respective models of democracy that can be emulated by other states facing the same political crisis.