The Decay of the Pink Tide and the Rise of the Right in Latin America

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

Liberal democracy is currently being challenged the world over by anti-establishment populists seeking a more nationalistic form of anti-pluralist democracy. From Budapest to Brasilia, skilled political entrepreneurs have capitalized on popular discontent with the status quo, promoting illiberal alternatives while looking to redraw the rules of the game. No other region of the world exemplifies this phenomenon more than Latin America. Since the 1998 election victory of Hugo Chávez Frías in Venezuela, the region saw an electoral swing towards the left known as the Pink Tide. Between 1998 and 2008, most of the countries in the region voted left-leaning governments into power. The apparent failures of neoliberalism gave greater impetus to populist movements such as those lead by Chávez in Venezuela, the Kirchners in Argentina, Evo Morales in Bolivia, Rafael Correa in Ecuador, and Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua. Their political fortunes were buoyed by high commodity prices and increased foreign investment from rising powers like China. After a decade of growth and poverty reduction, many foresaw a shift away from polyarchy and open markets towards participatory democracy and statism. However, the recent economic slowdown in Latin America and a number of corruption scandals has emboldened the right—broadly understood—to win power in places such as Brazil and Argentina. At the other extreme, democratically uncompetitive leftist regimes in Venezuela and Nicaragua have transitioned to become personalist dictatorships. Countries in the middle are caught in an increasingly polarized regional context.

In an ironic twist of fate, many longstanding left-populist regimes have demonstrated a reluctance to relinquish power to political opponents through democratic competition. On the other hand, right-populists have utilized popular dissatisfaction with the left’s performance in office. They have mobilized popular sectors to support political projects favoring economic elites, which will increase real and perceived structures of privilege in the process. This proposed panel convenes four paper presentations which examine this complex dynamic in great detail. Daniel Leon and Charles Larratt-Smith’s article focuses on the long trajectory that has culminated in autocracy in Venezuela, highlighting the more recent ‘survivalist equilibrium’ that the Maduro regime now finds itself in and what this means for the future of this country. Rachel Bowen examines President Daniel Ortega’s about-face from his previous tenure in power, and how he has specifically targeted the women’s rights movements in order to placate unlikely conservative allies amidst an ever-shrinking public space in Nicaragua. Based on extensive survey data from Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela, Pascal Lupien analyzes how radical participatory democracy fails to strengthen citizenship as agency, as the practices and discourse of the populist leaders who establish these mechanisms are in fact engendering “controlled inclusion”. Finally, Nicolas Saldias provides a detailed comparative look into the recent rise of right-wing ‘bourgeois leaders’ such as Mauricio Macri in Argentina, and rightwing populists like Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, demonstrating how these two very different models on the right are driven by similar public repudiations of the previous leftists governments, and how these models and gaining traction in other Southern Cone countries such as Uruguay.

These collective works assess the real and perceived failures of the left to establish a sustainable, transparent, and inclusive model of economic and democratic development, all of which has arguably led to the recent swing back towards the right in the region. While still quite recent, the sudden rise of the populist right in Latin America has emulated the successful electoral strategies and anti-democratic discourse found in similar parties in the United States, Hungary, and the Philippines. This panel is well equipped to navigate this complex topic, as the chair (Dr. Kirk Hawkins – BYU) and two discussants (Dr. Dorothy Kronick – University of Pennsylvania; Dr. Jennifer Pribble – University of Richmond) are regional experts who have conducted extensive work on the cases in question. They are well placed to administer what is certain to be a lively conversation on the turbulent electoral shifts that have shaken Latin America over the past five years.

Sub Unit

• DIVISION 12: Comparative Politics in Developing Countries

Individual Presentations

• The Survivalist Equilibrium: Venezuela in the Post-Chavez Era - Charles Larratt-Smith, University of Toronto

• Precarious Politics in Nicaragua: The Anti-Feminist Roots of Populist Violence - Rachel E. Bowen, Ohio State University

• Impact of Populist Discourse and Governance Practices on Citizen Participation - Pascal Lupien

• The Bourgeois Leader: Corruption and Inequality in Argentina and Uruguay - Anibal Nicolas Saldias, University of Toronto

Chair

• Kirk A. Hawkins Brigham Young University

Discussants

• Dorothy Kronick University of Pennsylvania

• Jennifer Pribble University of Richmond