Populism and the persistence of Latin America’s underperformance

Abstract

Populism helps explain democratic and economic underperformance in the region. Far from weakening, populism may be getting stronger. It is currently being boosted by the rise of far-right populism in the United States (and Europe), which was unusual until now. I draw on theories of International Relations to discuss how the Trump administration is boosting populism in the region. Next, I review how a reinvigorated populism will likely continue hurting democracy – it radicalises the state, renders actors less tolerant of pluralism, and opens new avenues of polarisation by reinforcing cultural wars. I then discuss populism and economic development. Although it is conventional to explain populism by invoking economic underperformance, I suggest that, in the region, the causal arrow also goes the other way. Populism yields economic underperformance, which in turn fuels populism. In short, the region seems to be caught in a “populism trap”.