The Deficit of Active Citizenship in Peru: Contestation and Participation in an Electoral Oligarchy

• In Event: The Survival of Defective Democracies in the Andes

Abstract

The third paper, "The Deficit of Active Citizenship in Peru: Contestation and Participation in an Electoral Oligarchy,” by Carmen Ilizarbe, argues that Peru has transitioned from an electoral authoritarian regime under President Alberto Fujimori to a defective electoral democracy with low levels of active citizenship. Despite four peaceful changes in government, the institutions of democracy remain precarious. Drawing on a literature on state-society relations, Ilizarbe argues that exclusionary practices and weak or systematically distorted forms of representation have turned Peru’s polyarchical regime into an elective oligarchy. Analyzing four democratic governments (Alejandro Toledo 2001-2006; Alan Garcia 2006-2011; Ollanta Humala 2011-2016, Pedro Pablo Kuczynksi 2016-), Ilizarbe shows that electoral oligarchies can survive only by suppressing political disagreement and denying active citizen participation.

Author

• Carmen Ilizarbe Pizarro, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú