Democracy, development and dependency in Latin America: suggestion for a critical perspective

SILVINA MARÍA ROMANO

Dakar, Senegal

Otro; South-South Summer Institute "Democracy and social justice"; 2009

CLACSO-CODESRIA-APISA

The aim of this research paper is to analyze the articulation between formal and substantive aspects of democracies in Latin America, focusing on the cases of Evo Morales (Bolivia), Hugo Chavez (Venezuela) and Lula da Silva (Brasil) presidencies. These governments changed the pattern from the neo-liberal regimes of the ‘90s, basing their presidential campaigns in speeches oriented to social justice, and identifying themselves with popular sectors. Thereafter, in formal and “rethorical” aspects, they appear to follow the same model. Nevertheless, if we investigate the substantial aspects of these democracies, their similarities tend to vanish in terms of the policies that characterized each of these regimes. To understand the importance of analyzing the articulation between the formal and the substantial aspects of Latin American democracies, it is crucial to approach democracy from a historical and critical perspective. This implies, in the first place, to rethink the main characteristics of the liberal procedural democracy that was born in United States and became a legitimate political and economic order. In the second place, it is necessary to look through the processes that demonstrate the way in which the liberal procedural democracy has imposed herself over other models of democracy in Latin America, most of them oriented to social justice, as in constitutional presidencies of Arbenz, Goulart and Allende’s, after the Second World War. The relevance of those experiences derived from the context that shaped Latin American approaches to democracy after the Second World War, when liberal procedural democracy became the central or hegemonic paradigm for a political, economic and social organization that would ensure the step forward “modern” and “developed” society in the occidental world. The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the dependency school demonstrated that Latin American societies had, on the one hand, structural limitations based on thir role as commodity exporters that increased their dependency on core countries manufactures; and, on the other hand, a colonial past that had paved the way to specific institutions that where frequently oriented to reinforce the dependency aspects of societies.  Within that frame, we suggest to rethink democracy in the current governments of Brazil, Venezuela and Bolivia, not just as a procedural and formal model, but combining their political dimension with underdevelopment in the way that was understood by “auto-critical” ECLAC intellectuals, dependency studies and critical Latin American approaches, which articulate democracy with social justice.  At the same time, going back to post Second World War democratic experiences through a critical-historical approach, enables us to visualize the connection between the formal aspects of democracy, the “structure” (elections, succession, political parties system, democratic institutions, etc) and the substantive aspects, that is, the “process” that implies the policies and guide lines of each government. Although, to considere the substantial dimension, implies to identify the groups and people that support or not a specific model of democracy, while denying others; this would be analyzed from the “elitist” perception of democracy, which gives a crucial role to the groups that have power to influence the decision making process, in a particular economic and political context.. To studie Arbenz, Goulart and Allende’s presidencies, we have based our work mainly in declassified documents from the United States Department of State, in order to demonstrate the tension between the United States government idea of democracy, and “alternative” democracies emergin in some countries of Latin America, oriented to social justice. However we also consulted bibliography about these processes. In the case of Evo Morales, Lula da Silva and Hugo Chavez governments, we have consulted special-interested magazines, web sites and press articles, considering the limitations of looking into recent events.