Abstract

TUSELL COLLADO, Alex. Quality of democracy in Latin America, 2013-2018: a classification with cluster and dendrogram observations. E&c [online]. 2023, vol.2, n.17, pp.39-56. ISSN 2477-9245.  https://doi.org/10.37228/estado_comunes.v2.n17.2023.325.

This paper classifies democracies in Latin America between 2013 and 2018 based on a factor analysis that includes dimensions such as political rights and freedoms, rule of law, participation, accountability (horizontal and vertical) and effectiveness of the government. This research considers the Polity Index and data from Freedom House, the World Bank, and Varieties of Democracy. Cluster observations and a dendrogram show that democracies in the region fall into country clusters. Uruguay, Chile, and Costa Rica are in Type 1 (4,0 average) and have the best procedural indicators of democratic quality. Type 4 (-2,6) include Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua has the worst. Type 2 and 3 (0,7 and -1,0, respectively) assemble the remaining countries that also face challenges regarding the quality of democracy.

Keywords : quality of democracy; democratic rating; political rights and freedoms; accountability; effectiveness of government.

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