Following global trends, Latin America slides away from democracy

Democracy is under assault in Latin America. 

For the fifth consecutive year, the region’s Global Democracy Index score — compiled by The Economist Intelligence Unit — has fallen, slipping from 6.13 in 2019 to 6.09 in 2020. With democratic backsliding in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Haiti, The Economist reckons that Latin America is now home to three democracies, 13 flawed democracies, five “hybrid regimes,” and 3 authoritarian regimes.

This pattern follows a global trend of autocratization, corroborated by other democracy measurements such as Freedom House and Varieties of Democracy. 

While the numbers are alarming, they only represent a snapshot of political development in the region and the world as a whole. The reality is a far more dynamic and contested process.

The Global Democracy Index compiles data on five dimensions to classify countries’ political regimes: electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, the functioning of government, political participation, and political culture. The decline in Latin America’s overall score has been driven by deterioration in two of these categories, namely electoral process and pluralism, and civil liberties. 

As an example, the Central American nation of El Salvador has been downgraded from a flawed democracy to a hybrid regime following President Nayib Bukele’s consistent disregard for institutional checks and balances. The region has also performed poorly with regard to the...