Nov 1
Wynia Lecture Series: Resisting Backsliding: Opposition Strategies Against the Erosion of Democracy
In the past two decades, democratically elected executives across the world have used their popularity to push for legislation that, over time, destroys systems of checks and balances, hinders free and fair elections, and undermines political rights and civil liberties. Using and abusing institutions and institutional reform, some of them have transformed their countries’ democracies into competitive authoritarian regimes. Others, however, have failed. What explains these different outcomes? In this talk, Dr. Laura Gamboa discusses this question. Focusing on the cases of Hugo Chávez in Venezuela and Alvaro Uribe in Colombia, she proposes that the strategies the opposition uses and the goals it uses them for are key to understand why some executives successfully erode democracy and others do not.
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