Democracia, gobernabilidad y malestar social en América Latina: una reflexión

Abstract

En este artículo, la autora examina la dicotomía de la liberalización económica y política que se presenta en América Latina a partir de las décadas de los 70 y 80. Se analiza la ambigüedad entre la apertura de los mercados nacionales y los procesos democráticos que se gestan en la mayor parte en los países de la región que, al no responder a las expectativas de sus sociedades, han coadyuvado a polarizar internamente a las mismas y en algunos casos a crear un ambiente de ingobernabilidad y de malestar social por las promesas incumplidas de la democracia, dañando la imagen de la política y de la propia democracia.

In this article, the author explores the dichotomy of political and economical liberalization that has been present in Latin America since the decades of the 70's and 80's. The ambiguity between the opening of national markets and the democratization processes emerging in most countries of the region is analyzed. As the above mentioned processes proved not to respond to the needs and requirements of the societies in which they took place, they instead contributed to the internal polarization of society itself and, in some cases, they fostered an environment characterized by the difficulty of implementation of governance combined with a pervasive social unease due to the many unfulfilled promises of democracy that have been damaging the image of politics and democracy itself.