Democratic Institutions under Stress

In 2022, Chileans will decide on a new constitution, which among many changes proposes a restructuring of the national congress. In this audio interview, hosted by GIGA, journalist Evan Romero talks with Prof. Dr. Mariana Llanos and Ass. Prof. Dr. Christopher Martínez Nourdin to assess the impact of the potential amendments. Listen now!

The term limits of presidents as a crucial institutional feature to safeguard democracy have often been contested by incumbents. The authors of this article argue that bringing together knowledge on Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa provides new empirical and theoretical insights.

In this article the authors take a longitudinal view on presidential-term-limit reforms in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa since the third wave of democratization. Many countries (re)introduced the measure as a democratic safeguard against abuse of power; since then, it has been repeatedly challenged.

This workshop, organised by the GIGA, brings together renowned European and Latin American scholars from the Red Euro-Latinoamericana de Gobernabilidad para el Desarrollo to discuss and present their most recent research on the state of democratic institutions in Latin America. Los debates serán en inglés, español y portugués.

In presidential democracies, impeachment proceedings are an important mechanism for controlling executive powers. GIGA expert Prof. Mariana Llanos and Prof. Leiv Marsteintredet show in the GIGA Focus that impeachment proceedings can, however, also open the door to party-political interests and opportunism.

Do judges consider themselves political actors having a legislative role? To advance our understanding of the key determinants of judicial behavior, the author uses a survey with federal judges in Mexico to explore to what extent judges adhere to a positivist or a principle‐based constitutionalist legal culture.

The papers deal with the difficult transition in Malaysia after the 2018 elections. Since the defeat of the National Front coalition in 2018, politics in Malaysia is characterized by shifting coalitions and political instability. It is now unclear whether the political system is moving towards a form of electoral democracy.