Presidential Reelection and Democratic Regression in Latin America

Presidential reelection has historically been controversial in Latin America. In the 1980s and early 1990s, the predominant rule was that pres-idents could only opt for alternate reelection. However, since the mid-1990s, constitutional changes have taken place in some countries to make immediate and even indefinite reelection possible. On the other hand, in the last fifteen years, there has been a democratic decline in the region. Is there a relationship between both phenomena? Analyzing the period from 1989 to 2020, this work finds that immediate and indefinite reelection always favor democratic re-gression. On the other hand, alternate reelection is beneficial to the advancement of democracy and its prohibition does not show a significant relationship. This provides evidence in favor of those who warn of the risks of perpetuation in power. It is also found that the quality of institutions prevents democratic backsliding, but building such institutions takes time. These findings show that the political constitutions of the countries should only contemplate alternate reelection and non-reelection. The change could be made in the short term.