The Quest for Syntony: Democracy and Regionalism in South America

Abstract

This article analyses how the issue of democracy protection has been incorporated into South American regionalism. It shows the motivation for building Democracy Clauses in regionalism and identify the challenges for its implementation. From 1985 to 2008, there was a progressive insertion of instruments related to democracy protection. Between 2009 and 2015 efforts were aimed at expanding regional autonomy to deal with political crises. As of 2016–2020 democracy has been used as an element of division between states. We identify the factors that help explain the changes observed which have resulted in the weakening of regionalism's contribution to democracy.

Auge y declive del regionalismo latinoamericano en la primera marea rosa: lecciones para el presente

“…Además, se debía sancionar el derrocamiento inconstitucional de gobiernos. Los organismos regionales, incluido Mercosur y UNASUR, se dieron cláusulas democráticas que preveían sanciones en caso de ruptura o amenaza de ruptura del orden democrático (Ramanzini Junior, Mariano, Gonçalves, 2022). En ocasiones, la OEA y UNASUR incluso competían sobre quién podía proteger mejor la democracia (Nolte, 2018).…”

Crisis in South American regionalism and Brazilian protagonism in Unasur, the Lima Group and Prosur

“…Prosur, although publicly advocating for democracy in the region, did not published any press release regarding the coup in Bolivia, or the social protests in Chile and Ecuador; instead, it published one recognizing these governments' attempt to protect democratic institutionalism and condemning any type of violence (Ramanzini Júnior et al 2021).…”

“…Unlike previous periods when regionalism and democracy evolved from the effort to prevent the return to dictatorships by strengthening South American institutions for democracy protection, democracy in this new scenario has been used for domestic political purposes and to legitimize governments (Ramanzini Júnior et al 2021).…”

Crisis and changes in international governance in the dawn of the 21st century: rethinking the spheres of international politics

“…In other words, it is not a question of rethinking regionalism itself, but how its practices and integration projects have been affected or reconfigured by the ongoing systemic and regional pressures. The inability of regionalism to overcome crises has increased conflicts and pressures for disintegration (Ramanzini Junior et al 2021). Despite the existence of mechanisms such as Custom Unions and Democratic Clauses in the various regions of the world, there remains the difficulty of building social bonds sufficient to maintain the cohesion of the integrative process, especially in the face of moments of political and economic crisis.…”