April 2025, Volume 36, Issue 2
Democratic backsliding is usually seen as something driven by presidents, but under certain circumstances elected legislatures can cause it, too. Legislative hegemony is a growing danger.
January 2025, Volume 36, Issue 1
Covid-19 swept across Latin America with devastating effects. But it had unexpected positive consequences too, as citizens ousted inept politicians and pushed back against the inequities laid bare by the pandemic.
April 2023, Volume 34, Issue 2
Complaining about parties and politicians is common everywhere, but troubled Peru has devolved into a cautionary tale for what a democracy without established parties and professional politicians can look like.
July 2021, Volume 32, Issue 3
Instead of ending the instability that has seen the country have four presidents in three years, Peru’s presidential election has left the country on a razor-thin edge.
October 2020, Volume 31, Issue 4
When asked by presidents to intervene domestically for crime-fighting or civil-order purposes, Latin American militaries face a number of risks and have a degree of freedom to tailor their responses accordingly.
April 2019, Volume 30, Issue 2
The historical record since 1945 gives us a picture of how populists operate once they hold political power. The record shows that populism is inimical to liberal democracy, and not a corrective to some of its failings.
October 2018, Volume 29, Issue 4
Less than two years after an extremely close presidential election, the supporters of Keiko Fujimori took advantage of a corruption scandal to cut short the presidency of Pedro Pablo Kuczynski.
January 2017, Volume 28, Issue 1
The use of force and intimidation against women trying to take part in politics is a growing problem in many places. Such violence assumes a number of different forms, but all aim to keep women as women out of public life.
October 2016, Volume 27, Issue 4
Peru’s economic boom is over and newly elected president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski faces a Congress dominated by opposition parties, putting him in a more precarious position than his predecessors.
July 2016, Volume 27, Issue 3
After spending the 1990s coping with an overweening president, Peru settled into a more sedate style of politics, but it is one in which parties barely exist, voters feel unhappy with their elected chief executives despite strong economic growth, and technocracy rather than democracy is the key mode of decision making.
October 2011, Volume 22, Issue 4
Despite the presidential victory of Ollanta Humala, Peru’s 2011 elections had some continuities with the 2006 contest. The electorate is dividing along regional and socioeconomic rather than partisan lines.
October 2011, Volume 22, Issue 4
In a runoff between candidates with dubious democratic credentials, former antisystem outsider Ollanta Humala defeated Keiko Fujimori by attracting votes from the middle class.
October 2007, Volume 18, Issue 4
Where indigenous peoples constitute a smaller share of the electorate, their recent inclusion denotes a more generalized opening of the political system to excluded and vulnerable sectors of society.
October 2006, Volume 17, Issue 4
An unexpected winner emerged in Peru's close-fought presidential election. Alan García's earlier presidential term was calamitous at best, and yet he may now be the harbinger of a brighter future for Peru's democracy.
October 2001, Volume 12, Issue 4
In Peru in 2000, the OAS made an unprecedented diplomatic intervention in a member state. Could this be a model for the future?
October 2001, Volume 12, Issue 4
Although the OAS helped, sudden public revelations of corruption in Peru were more important.
April 2001, Volume 12, Issue 2
The Editors’ introduction to “High Anxiety in the Andes.”
April 2001, Volume 12, Issue 2
The sudden and surprising downfall of President Alberto Fujimori has opened the way for a return to democracy in Peru, but the country’s new leaders will face major challenges in the coming years.
July 1999, Volume 10, Issue 3
Read the full essay here.
