IDD-Lat Evolution 2002 - 2006 period

The Konrad Adenauer Foundation and Polilat.com develop convergent efforts with the democratic development of Latin America by means of the Democratic Development Index (IDD-Lat) and other works.

Both institutions regard it as necessary to measure Latin American democracies according to unique parameters and with specific references to Latin American democracies’ historical, cultural, social and economic characteristics, in order to clarify the situation for the members of each society and for those who interact with each country from the international plane.

IDD-Lat 2006 Report Book

This Report consists of five chapters with two appendixes, according to the following topic layout:

Chapter I deals with the trends of the Latin American Democratic Development and with the regional behavior analyzed at the different IDD-Lat’s Levels of Analysis (Respect for Political Rights and Civil Liberties; Institutional Quality and Political Efficiency; Exercise of Effective Power to govern according to the “Capacity to generate Policies guaranteeing Welfare” as well as to the “Capacity to generate Policies guaranteeing Economic Efficiency”). This year, an average improvement of almost 5% is shown. However, most countries still continue in the area of “low democratic development” (more than 60%); and only three countries reach the “high democratic development” level (Costa Rica, Chile and Uruguay).

Chapter II introduces the tables with indicators of each Level of Analysis and the behavior Summary of each indicator for each country. This behavior Summary acts as a “Democratic Development Semaphore flag” which allows evaluating the rises, stagnations and drops of each country as for all the evaluated aspects.

The countries that stand out because of their increase this year are Guatemala and Colombia. The countries that registered a fall in their Index are Paraguay, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Panama.

On the other hand, little rise is shown at the Levels of Analysis “Political Rights and Civil Liberties” and “Institutional Quality and Political Efficiency.”

As regards the indicators’ behavior there is a good average performance in the increase of the GDP per capita, in the fall of indebtedness as well as in the decrease in infant mortality rate. However, poor general results were registered in the conditioning of civil liberties and rights by means of lack of safety, in the educational matriculation and in the poverty reduction.

Chapter III discusses the existing tenseness among the political models in force in the region. On the one hand, there are those who work seriously to fulfill a higher democratic development. But, on the other, there are those who have chosen the path of “Technopopulism,” in accordance with a strong authoritarian leadership determined to dominate or to harm democratic capacities deeply rooted in institutions and citizens, in the name of a “superior interest.”

Mondialization, the devaluation of ideologies, the processes of reform, the social feeling of dissatisfaction and social atomization together with the impact of new technologies, and the scarce leadership’s political vocation constitute the return of populism to the region. This populism divides societies and weakens democracy.

Chapter V analyses the “Democratic Memory” of Latin American countries during 2005, the basic period of our analysis.

Chapter VI and Appendixes I and II include our usual “Methodological Section.” This section explains methodological matters relating to the selection of statistics and its sources as well as to the techniques of calculation and the calculation formulas used for the elaboration of the Index.

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