Latin America: Presidential Power and the Opposition in the Twenty-first Century

At the end of 2017 Latin America has entered the electoral super  cycle, which runs until the end of 2019. In the region will take place  the elections of all levels: presidential, legislative, local, as well as referendums. The countries covered by the electoral race, provide  80 per cent of regional GDP, ballot will involve about 2/3 of  the voters in the region. Fourteen Heads of State will be elected in  the countries with a presidential form of Government. Elections are  held in an atmosphere of political instability, discredit of the power  structures, the degradation of the ruling elites, fragmentation of  party systems, volatility of the preferences of the electorate. In the  region, there are strong antielite moods, a slowdown of democratic  processes, and the low level of support for democracy. This article  analyzes the reasons for this situation. Considerable attention is paid to the characterization of the political systems prevailing in the  countries of the region and focuses on the evolution of the institute  of Presidency in the 21st century, the causes of the emergence of a  new leadership and the formation of regimes of personified  authorities. The author is of the opinion that the imbalances of  presidential systems laid down in the regulatory and legislative  framework, contribute to the consolidation of different models of  ideological personification colors and offer opportunities for  concentrating power in the hands of the head of State. Hyper power  of the Presidents and the weakening of the control functions of  parliaments contributed to the flourishing of corruption that has  taken epidemic proportions in recent years and among the highest  echelons of almost all countries. Corruption scandals in turn cause  presidential resignations and impeachments, lead to institutional instability. The fight against corruption becomes the  main leitmotif of election campaigns. The article presents the results of the election campaigns of 2015-2017, traces the  dependence of electoral preferences of the population of the region  from the situation in the economy and the social conditions, and  underlines the special role of the new middle class in the political  life. It is argued that Latin America is on the threshold of the  emblematic changes but to predict election results and the nature of  future change is not possible.