Restructuring the Democratic System and Processes

Executive summary

Although Latin America is a region filled with diverse and heterogeneous traits, clearly defined patterns of socio-economic and political development can easily be found across the many countries. One such pattern that has contributed significantly to the regions development was the democratization that started in the 1980s.This transformation provided the nations with the impetus to transform authoritarian regimes into pluralistic political establishments. As a consequence, by the start of the mid 90s, the region was liberated of autocratic regimes and military dictatorships (Potash, 1969) and was introduced to comprehensive constitutional frameworks that were founded on democratic institutions, principles and procedures Brennan & Rougier, 2009).There is a pressing need to educate the citizens of Latin American countries so that they realize that building a strong and powerful state does not necessarily imply the imposition of an authoritarian regime. Instead, they must realize that the formation of a strong state is an essential prerequisite to a democratic government that functions under the rules of law. The United States has repeatedly proved that it will not surrender its determination towards advocating democratization. The major challenge is to exploit the cumulative experience and take advantage of networks established between civil society organizations so that efforts can be channeled through the institutions that ultimately have democratic legitimacy (Malamud-Goti, 1996).A high priority should be awarded to initiatives that the United States generally places under the category of governance. The United States should provide support and financial aid to projects that are aimed at familiarizing the population settled in these regions with state institutions. Doing this will enable them to direct their demands and seek answers to the issues that plague them (Brysk, 1994).This is especially true in the case of public institutions that are the product of post-democratic transitions, specifically those that guarantee the basic rights of the general masses. Leading examples of these are ombudsmen and laws and institutions that assure government transparency. There is also a pressing need for the United States to expand its cooperation and interaction with various public institutions. Ever since 1990, the United States has been a staunch supporter of the institution of ombudsman in Latin America. Over the course of time, it has showed support for various other self-governing public institutions. In this context, rather than waiting for national or local Latin American authorities to request cooperation, the United Stated can get better results by adopting a more 'proactive' policy.

Background

Between March and July of 2008, the country of Argentina experienced a major social and political turmoil. The effects of this turmoil were identified as being the byproduct of a legislative proposal related to taxation that was introduced by President Cristina Kirchner. The taxes were aimed at increasing duties on exports related to agriculture (Smith, 1991).

Unlike any other country in the region, the Argentinean producers of agriculture are a remarkably powerful lobby, mainly due to the fact that they constitute the major 'economic strength' of the country (Smith, 1991). Therefore, widespread protests, frenzied riots and ...