Fixing Democracy: Why Constitutional Change Often Fails to Enhance Democracy in Latin America

by Javier Corrales

The study of institutions, a core concept in comparative politics, has produced many rich and influential theories on the economic and political effects of institutions, yet it has been less successful at theorizing their origins. In Fixing Democracy , Javier Corrales develops a theory of institutional origins that concentrates on constitutions and levels of power within them. He reviews numerous Latin American constituent assemblies and constitutional amendments to explore why some democracies expand rather than restrict presidential powers and why this heightened presidentialism discourages democracy. His signal theoretical contribution is his elaboration on power asymmetries. Corrales determines that conditions of reduced power asymmetry make constituent assemblies more likely to curtail presidential powers, while weaker opposition and heightened power asymmetry is an indicator that presidential powers will expand. The bargain-based theory that he uses focuses on power distribution and provides a more accurate variable in predicting actual constitutional outcomes than other approaches based on functionalism or ideology. While the empirical focus is Latin America, Fixing Democracy contributes a broadly applicable theory to the scholarship both institutions and democracy.

283 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 29, 2018

About the author

Associate Professor of Political Science at Amherst College, Javier Corrales authored or co-authored "U.S.-Venezuela Relations since the 1990s: Coping with Midlevel Security Threats", "Dragon in the Tropics: Hugo Chávez and the Political Economy of Revolution in Venezuela" and "Presidents Without Parties", edited "The Politics of Sexuality in Latin America" and is a contributor to The Huffington Post. His research has been published in academic journals such as Comparative Politics, World Development, Political Science Quarterly, World Policy Journal, Latin American Politics and Society, Latin American Research Review, Current History, and Foreign Policy. He serves on the editorial board of Latin American Politics and Society.