The nature of populist democracy: a latin american perspective

ENRIQUE PERUZZOTTI

Thinking democracy now. Between innovation and regression

Feltrinelli

Año: 2019; p. 1 - 1

The genealogy of the contemporary expressions of populism that are proliferatingin democracies around the world can be traced back to mid-XX century LatinAmerica, when a plesbicitarian form of democratic regime was invented(Finchelstein 2018). Since the 1940s, democratic populism has been a constantpolitical presence in the region, challenging authoritarian and liberal democraticregimes alike. The present chapter analyses the emergence and ulteriordevelopment of modern expressions of populism in Latin America. In contrast toother regions, where populism has been a more sporadic and marginal politicalpresence, the continent has had ample experience with populism in power. At atime where populism is becoming a governmental force in new and olddemocracies alike, the analysis of the long engagement of Latin American withpopulist governments and regimes might be useful for understanding the sort ofchallenges that populism as a specific form of power exercise poses to liberalrepresentative regimes.While the engagement of the region with populism can be traced back to the lastquarter of the XIX century, the ideal of populism as alternative type of democraticregime to liberal representative government emerges in mid-XX century andreemerged with particular force at the beginning of the XXI century. Peronismoprovides the most paradigmatic example of the first wave while Chavismo of thecurrent one. Both historical experiences share important features, expressing aspecific understanding of democratic ideals that has gained global relevance incontemporary political struggles.