IMPEACHMENT OR BACKSLIDING? Threats to democracy in the twenty-first century

Abstract

The age of military coups has ended, but democracy still confronts major challenges in the early twenty-first century. What are the new threats for democratic survival? Is impeachment a functional equivalent to old-fashioned military coups? Using comparative data for Latin America, this paper shows that the institution of impeachment has been “stretched” for political purposes and that the social conditions that triggered military coups in the pasttrigger impeachments in the contemporary era. However, the paper argues that impeachments should not be confused with coups and presents a surprising result: even though legislators often manipulate the impeachment process to undermine elected presidents, the most common threat to democratic survival does not originate in legislatures, but in the executive branch. Concentration of power by the executive has undermined democracy in Latin Americaand elsewhere.

Alternate abstract:

A era dos golpes militares acabou, mas a democracia ainda enfrenta grandes desafios neste início do século XXI. Quais são as novas ameaças à sobrevivência da democracia? Seria o Impeachment um equivalente funcional dos antiquados golpes militares? Utilizando dados comparativos relativos à América Latina, este artigo expõe a “ampliação” da instituição do impeachment por motivos políticos, bem como explicita que as condições sociais que causaram golpes militares no passado causam, na contemporaneidade, impeachments. No entanto, o artigo argumenta que impeachments não deveriam ser confundidos com golpes e apresenta um resultado surpreendente: mesmo que legisladores frequentemente manipulem o processo de impeachment para debilitar presidentes eleitos, a ameaça mais comum à sobrevivência democrática não se origina do poder legislativo, mas do executivo. A concentração de poder pelo executivo debilitou a democracia na América Latina e em outros lugares.

Alternate abstract:

La reconnaissance de la possibilité de concilier les modes de vie des peuples et des communautés autochtones avec la préservation de la biodiversité a déclenché la création de dispositifs légaux qui permettent à ces individus de demeurer sur leurs terres. Cependant, les aires protégées continuent d’être des espaces disputés, dans lesquels sont projetés les intérêts sociaux pour le territoire, comme un moyen de production matérielle et immatérielle de la vie, les intérêts qui visent à destiner ces espaces exclusivement à la protection environnementale et les intérêts des marchés, qui imprègnent plusieurs des pratiques encouragées dans les Unités de Conservation. Dans cet article, je présente les caractéristiques de ces conflits au sein de la Forêt Nationale du Tapajós (Flona Tapajós), où le “droit de rester” impose des conditionnalités à la population, c’est-à-dire, des restrictions d’utilisation et d’introduction de nouvelles pratiques qui ont modifié les relations communautaires et les dynamiques socio-économiques de ce territoire.