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The Kingdom of Lesotho is beset by multiple challenges that hinder a full process of democratic consolidation. Like many other African countries, Lesotho is trapped in a myriad of challenges, including the politicization of independent institutions, such as the judiciary and security institutions, that contribute to perennial political instabilities and rampant corruption. Qualitative research was used to examine the challenges of democratic consolidation in Lesotho from the year 1993 to 2022. This paper, historically, using secondary data, uncovers the factors that continue to impede democratic consolidation in Lesotho from the period of fragile democracy in 1993 to the present unstable coalition governments. The central contention in the paper is that ever since Lesotho was declared a democratic state in 1993, the democratization process has been slow as there have been perpetual instabilities, lack of service delivery such as infrastructure, unemployment, and high rates of nepotism in the public sector that undermine sustainable democracy. Recommendations are that the political rights of citizens should be increased, civil society should be empowered, and the military should be put under civil control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examined issues in democratic consolidation in Nigeria by focusing on the nature of the linkages among competitiveness of elections, regularity of elections and democratic consolidation in the country. The haunting experience of a protracted period of military rule in the West African state makes the subject matter of democratic consolidation in the country usually engaging. Even at that, extant literature has not adequately covered issues bordering on the linkages among the competitiveness of elections, regularity of elections and democratic consolidation in Nigeria. What then is the nature of the linkages among these research variables? The methodology of the work is qualitative and relies on secondary sources of non-numerical data for analyses. The paper found a position of disarticulated relationship among the study's variables. In addressing the embedded issues, it is recommended that independent candidature be constitutionally introduced as part of the electoral culture of the local government system in Nigeria. So that under such scenarios, as many citizens as possible at the local government level would usually become candidates during council elections. In so doing, competitiveness would have become totally practicalized and locally epitomized in democratic consolidation in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The key preoccupation and focus of the analytical attention of this paper is the consideration of the causative and consequential relations between the political and economic dimension of social life, that is, passing the boundary line between economy and politics. The major debate in this paper is: what is the causal relationship between democracy and economic development? When we are debating the Democracy-Development Nexus, the key finding of the analysis is reflected in the fact that, in spite of what the evidence in the scholarly literature is mixed and inconclusive, there is little disagreement that over time democracy and development are interdependent and mutually reinforcing. Although a strong positive link between the GDP per capita (key indicator of economic development) and the degree of development of the democratic structure in the case of selected transition economies has been confirmed, democracy, however, does not exclusively depend on the state of the economy, and economic weakness does not translate directly into the impossibility of democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Democracy under any system of rule is associated with vibrant political parties and credible elections. Both are indispensable in a representative democracy. The good conduct of elections within a political party promotes and consolidates democracy. Political parties in Ghana have suffered internal conflict resulting in factions, break-away, and the formation of new parties because of undemocratic party operations especially in the conduct of primaries. This act threatens the country's attempt to consolidate its democracy. Internal party reforms are adopted to ensure democratic practices and operations. The reforms include widening the electoral base of the party in the selection of candidates, simultaneous conduction of polls across constituencies, and restriction of candidates eligible for elections. These reforms are to reduce vote-buying, intimidation, physical assault, and fierce competition to enhance legitimisation of election results and the acceptability of candidates. The paper assessed how the various reforms adopted by the two major political parties in Ghana have influenced and legitimised the conduct of presidential primaries. The paper adopted a qualitative research design through interviews and reviewed extant literature to set the theoretical basis of the study. It is realised that the operationalisation of the reforms in 2014 and 2019 of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), respectively, has reduced the rancour associated hitherto with primaries. This exercise has gone a long way in consolidating democracy with a peaceful conduct of presidential primaries notwithstanding vestiges of vote-buying, security breaches, party executive biases, and high party nomination fees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Contexto Internacional is the property of Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio de Janeiro, Instituto de Relacoes Internacionais and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

While there are many studies on the democratization trajectory of former communist countries of Eastern Europe, only a few of them have a particular focus on how transitional justice helps democratic consolidation. The present comparative study seeks to fill that gap by focusing specifically on the cases of Romania and Albania, situating them in the wider kaleidoscope of former Eastern Europe. Some of these countries have had a fast implementation of transitional justice measures and successful democratization. Yet, despite adopting an early mechanism of transitional justice, others did not necessarily have any particular success in their democratic endeavour. On the other hand, additional states have had democratic consolidation despite not undertaking such rapid measures (for example Estonia), while others have failed either to adopt the transitional justice mechanisms or democratizing at all (i.e., Belarus). The present paper offers a theoretical framework that seeks to capture and explain such dynamics and by referring specifically to the telling cases of Romania and Albania, to explain what role and impact transitional justice measures have in democratic transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1999, Nigeria has witnessed an uninterrupted democratic experiment with many challenges. With the installation of multi-party democracy in Nigeria, the era of military authoritarian regimes were over as Nigerians were looking forward to a free society characterized by social justice, economic growth and free, fair and credible electoral process. But today, democracy sits on the horn of a dilemma in Nigeria due to massive political corruption by the leaders. Free and fair election which is one of the features of true democracy has eluded Nigeria since the advent of the country’s nascent democratic dispensation. The behavior of the political leaders has cast doubt on any consolidation of democracy in Nigeria. This paper gives a comprehensive definition of political corruption and democratic consolidation, and highlights the nature of political corruption in Nigeria. The paper also examines the impact of corruption on the consolidation of democracy under the prevailing socio-economic challenges in Nigeria. Finally, the paper concludes with the advice that for there to be democratic consolidation, there must be massive investment in the provision of the basic needs of the Nigerian people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examined issues in democratic consolidation in Nigeria by focusing on the nature of the linkages among competitiveness of elections, regularity of elections and democratic consolidation in the country. The haunting experience of a protracted period of military rule in the West African state makes the subject matter of democratic consolidation in the country usually engaging. Even at that, extant literature has not adequately covered issues bordering on the linkages among the competitiveness of elections, regularity of elections and democratic consolidation in Nigeria. What then is the nature of the linkages among these research variables? The methodology of the work is qualitative and relies on secondary sources of non-numerical data for analyses. The paper found a position of disarticulated relationship among the study’s variables. In addressing the embedded issues, it is recommended that independent candidature be constitutionally introduced as part of the electoral culture of the local government system in Nigeria. So that under such scenarios, as many citizens as possible at the local government level would usually become candidates during council elections. In so doing, competitiveness would have become totally practicalized and locally epitomized in democratic consolidation in Nigeria.

Copyright of Ankara Review of European Studies (ARES) / Ankara Avrupa Çalışmaları Dergisi (AAÇD) is the property of Ankara University European Union Research Centre and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper examines the reasons for the relatively low democratic support (DS) in Hong Kong in the context of competing values and choices based on the previous Asian Barometer Surveys. In so doing, it establishes a three-factor theoretical model that includes survey attitudinal statements related to authoritarianism (AU), nationalism (NA) and economic evaluations (EC) on DS. Using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), the analysis shows that the hypothesized model is a very good fit. The Hong Kong people's relatively low DS, in terms of their unconditional support for democracy and the degree of democracy they want for Hong Kong, can be well explained by the three factors in combination. The factors have various extent of impact on DS, with AU being the strongest, followed by EC, and then NA. The paper contributes by illustrating the usefulness of CFA in political values research, unraveling the comparative importance of the values and choices in affecting DS, and establishing a model for further testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article evaluates Taiwan's current democratic strengths and weaknesses and considers how the quality of democracy has changed over time. It reviews some of the comparative democracy indices to document improvements across a broad set of measures since the transition to democracy. It also presents qualitative evidence of improvements in five problem areas in Taiwan's political system identified twenty years ago: political corruption; rule of law; political polarization; institutional defects; and mass values. It then discusses new concerns that have emerged since 2000, most notably the growing influence of the People's Republic of China over business groups, political parties, and civil society actors in Taiwan. The paper concludes with consideration of some of the common problems that other democracies have encountered in recent years and notes the many alternative pathways to democratic regression or failure that Taiwan has so far managed to avoid. This comparative perspective highlights Taiwan's impressive democratic achievements: despite some remaining shortcomings. it is now among the most liberal, robust, and resilient democracies in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although elections are fundamental to democratic consolidation by peacefully electing people to serve in public offices, in many cases they not only bring along ideological contestations but also interparty violent conflicts. Based on a Participatory Action Research (PAR) design, this paper presents field-based lessons on training conducted to curb interparty electoral conflict prior to August 2016 general elections held in Zambia. The study comprised 521 participants from nine political parties which contested in 2016 general elections. Party officials were purposely selected from their provincial, district and constituency level hierarchy. The study aimed at understanding causes for interparty political violence and identifying solutions to address the same. Findings show that major drivers of political violence in Zambia include a deep-rooted "tradition" of practicing politics of intimidation to gain political mileage, political players' ignorance about electoral laws, weak law enforcement, and poverty (an element that drives the desire to earn a living from any opportunity). Unemployed youths are particularly vulnerable and are abused by the political elites to fan violence at a small fee. The study affirms the importance of action research as a useful bottom-up strategy for conflict prevention, especially in illiberal democracies in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies on the determinants of military conscription have found no association between the level of democracy and conscription. This paper argues that the stability of democratic institutions, rather than the current level of democracy, affects the decision to raise a conscript army. We hypothesize that countries with unstable democratic institutions employ military conscription as a mechanism to control the military and to prevent its involvement in a successful coup. By using data on 149 countries for the years 1970 to 2005, we find that countries with long-standing democratic traditions are less likely to use conscription, corroborating our hypothesis. Our results are robust to variations in specifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1999, Nigeria has witnessed an uninterrupted democratic experiment with many challenges. With the installation of multi-party democracy in Nigeria, the era of military authoritarian regimes were over as Nigerians were looking forward to a free society characterized by social justice, economic growth and free, fair and credible electoral process. But today, democracy sits on the horn of a dilemma in Nigeria due to massive political corruption by the leaders. Free and fair election which is one of the features of true democracy has eluded Nigeria since the advent of the country’s nascent democratic dispensation. The behavior of the political leaders has cast doubt on any consolidation of democracy in Nigeria. This paper gives a comprehensive definition of political corruption and democratic consolidation, and highlights the nature of political corruption in Nigeria. The paper also examines the impact of corruption on the consolidation of democracy under the prevailing socio-economic challenges in Nigeria. Finally, the paper concludes with the advice that for there to be democratic consolidation, there must be massive investment in the provision of the basic needs of the Nigerian people.

This paper examines Ghana's drive towards democratic consolidation and maturity after a third peaceful transfer of political power. It argues that even though some successes have been made, any attempt at describing Ghana's democracy as consolidated, would mean condoning mediocrity and lowering the bar of democratic consolidation. From the minimalists' view of democratic consolidation, the paper concedes the successes made after three turnover and peaceful transfer of power. However, this paper takes the view that Ghana's electoral processes continue to be saddled with monumental flaws that undermine the integrity of elections and poses a threat of democratic relapse. From the maximalists view, the study points to some successes in terms of the existence of a multi-party system, the implementation of some electoral reforms, the existence of vibrant civil society and media as well as the acceptance of democratic norms behaviourally, attitudinally and constitutionally by the ordinary Ghanaian citizenry and political elites. These achievements notwithstanding, the study identifies several deficits of democratic consolidation including excessive powers of the executive president, ethnic or tribal politics, post-election violence, limited policy influence of civil society, as well as the deliberate effort at tagging civil society with a view to gagging them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that the surest and sincerest religious tolerance is one based upon the acceptance of the universality of human rights, and in the Indonesian context, such acceptance is best secured through Religious Education (RE). This paper further presents considerations for RE based on the political theology of human rights, augmented by the theology of human flourishing and greater emphasis on responsibility, within each recognized religion in Indonesia. Two exemplary cases of the political theology of human rights are highlighted within Christianity and Islam, (1) Miguel Vatter’s interpretation of Maritain’s political theology and (2) Mustafa Akyol’s (re)interpretation of Islamic theology. They are highlighted due to their unique interpretation of Scripture for the basis of the universality of human rights, namely Maritain’s Pauline notion of ‘sons of God’ and Akyol’s Addamiyah. Scholarly studies have depicted human rights culture (as a form of political culture) as an important determining factor in democratic consolidation, and in many cases, one notable obstacle to such human rights culture is religious/theological objections to human rights.

Over the ages, the media have been charged with the statutory role of enhancing individual and societal well-being through unfettered sharing of information, values and opinions to engender informed decisions especially on political matters. Through communication, the mass media strengthens the capacity of individuals and groups in the society towards actively contributing to democratic growth, electoral behaviour and development. The question: how far have the media succeeded in discharging this social responsibility in Nigeria? It remains a burning national issue. This study presents the media role in expanding the democratic horizon in the country by focusing on the 2015 general elections and the reportage of protests that followed. The article went further to identify the diverse challenges facing the media, which include misinformation, stereotype and insecurity of journalists and offers plausible recommendations for enhancing the place of the media in democratic culture and governance in Nigeria. The study used mixed method to gather materials from the field on electoral protests. Histogram were used to present a clear analysis of findings, which were supported by secondary research. It found that there were discrepancies in the election reportage and also that the protests, which manifested during the election affected nation building activities and electoral behaviour in many parts of Nigeria. It consequently recommends peace journalism and improved media training for Nigerian journalists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Is a flourishing civil society’s political activism positively correlated with the deepening of Indonesian democracy? This article addresses this question by examining the role of civil society in the 2014 presidential election in Indonesia, focusing on the collective actions of volunteer groups (known as Gerakan Relawan) that shaped both the election process and its result. While some studies on civil society activism in the 2014 presidential election suggested the connection between the role of volunteer movement and the democratic process in Indonesia, this paper suggests that the overpraised assumptions regarding the connection between civil society’s role and democratic consolidation, in the case of volunteer movement, needs to be reconsidered. This paper argues that although the activism of the volunteer movement has positively contributed to the democratic process of the 2014 election, however, realistic assessment of the volunteer movement confirms its problematic nature and the limits of volunteer activism that may contribute to the disconnection of civil society and democratic consolidation in the country.

Copyright of IBEROAMERICANA. América Latina - España - Portugal is the property of Vervuert Verlag and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Democracy under any system of rule is associated with vibrant political parties and credible elections. Both are indispensable in a representative democracy. The good conduct of elections within a political party promotes and consolidates democracy. Political parties in Ghana have suffered internal conflict resulting in factions, break-away, and the formation of new parties because of undemocratic party operations especially in the conduct of primaries. This act threatens the country’s attempt to consolidate its democracy. Internal party reforms are adopted to ensure democratic practices and operations. The reforms include widening the electoral base of the party in the selection of candidates, simultaneous conduction of polls across constituencies, and restriction of candidates eligible for elections. These reforms are to reduce vote-buying, intimidation, physical assault, and fierce competition to enhance legitimisation of election results and the acceptability of candidates. The paper assessed how the various reforms adopted by the two major political parties in Ghana have influenced and legitimised the conduct of presidential primaries. The paper adopted a qualitative research design through interviews and reviewed extant literature to set the theoretical basis of the study. It is realised that the operationalisation of the reforms in 2014 and 2019 of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), respectively, has reduced the rancour associated hitherto with primaries. This exercise has gone a long way in consolidating democracy with a peaceful conduct of presidential primaries notwithstanding vestiges of vote-buying, security breaches, party executive biases, and high party nomination fees.

Ghana's twenty-nine-year-old democracy has passed three 'turnover' tests. Though indicative of a consolidating democracy, there is a consistent increase of low intensity electoral violence. The perpetrators of such political violence are politicians acting through vigilante groups affiliated to their political parties. This paper seeks to unravel the puzzle why vigilante-perpetrated electoral violence rises even as Ghana's democracy consolidates. To answer this, the article utilizes the results of Afrobarometer survey rounds five and seven, data from Countries at Risk of Electoral Violence, and Bob-Milliar's disaggregate data of electoral violence in Ghana. By a times series analysis, elections were categorized into two cases according to trends in attacks on institutions around elections. Based on this, the hypothesis, "the higher the opposition's expected benefit of the use of vigilantism, the more electoral violence irrespective the stage of democracy" was tested. Then, the most similar systems design was used to study the relationship between independent economic, institutional, and political culture and actor variables and the dependent variable of democratic consolidation across both cases. The results indicate that vigilante attacks on institutions are more frequent around 'turnover' elections. This can be explained if considered that it is a rational behaviour of opposition political actors to attain power at all cost. These political choices have gained root in the absence of a critical mass against it. The danger is that vigilante activities after these elections inform a negative perception about crucial institutions such as the executive (the Presidency and the Ghana Police Service), the judiciary and the legislature. Thus, democracy suffers declining support amongst some Ghanaians. To eliminate political vigilantism in Ghana's democracy, more Ghanaians need to engage in political discourses to attain the critical mass that forces political actors to make democracy consolidating decisions, including disbanding all vigilante groups in Ghana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines how the changing demographic characteristics of voters affect generational structure of voters group and voting behavior on the presidential vote in South Korea. To do this, this research investigates the results from presidential elections in 2007 and 2017 by using the election data from 1997 as our baseline year which is not only recognized as the second presidential election corresponding with a democratic procedure, but regarded as a beginning of democratic consolidation in South Korea. Particularly, this research focuses on investigating how generational shifts in the Seoul metropolitan area (SMA) where has experienced dramatic demographic changes in the process of democratization since 1990s affect voters' decision by categorizing 66 local government entities within the SMA according to changes in population demographics as well as political ideology. The results indicate that voters' age is significantly correlated with the vote decision by ideological orientations, but its influence dramatically decreased in recent elections. Furthermore, this research utilized cluster analysis and ArcGIS to examine the similarity of municipalities within the SMA by clustering voters' demographics and election results (political orientations) based on the data from the 66 municipalities of the SMA. The cluster results indicate that these municipalities could be divided into six clusters by population aging and the level of conservatism of political orientation. It is interesting to note that certain phenomenon across cluster types appeared very similar, yet the cause of these phenomena was completely different. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1970s, approximately 60 countries in the world have experienced major political transition away from authoritarianism towards democracy and more liberal modes of governance. Subsequently, this era has provided opportunities for researchers to observe how major changes in the political environment affect a country's policing practices. This study is the first of a two paper series on the relationship between democratization and police attitudes, preferences and behaviours. This study reports the results of a pilot study of 315 police supervisors from 22 transitioning nations asking about their preferences towards two different styles of crime prevention—community-oriented policing and zero tolerance approaches. The results indicate that the officers from countries more democratically consolidated tend to have stronger relative preferences towards community-oriented policing over zero tolerance styles. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Desafíos is the property of Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Senora del Rosario and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Newly independent nation-states grapple with governance, in the midst of globalization and "democratic waves." The post-colonial political mavericks can manipulate the institutions in the fragile states to the extent that the choices may be antithetical to democratic consolidation. Thus, institutional choices will be one of the factors which will determine democratic maturation. This paper seeks to examine any patterns of institutional choices or generalities by political elites in Africa and the Middle East, coupled with the realities of globalization. Secondly, this paper will illustrate which institutional choices in general are perhaps more feasible for democratic consolidation in fragile states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While politics in Seoul has made great strides in democratization over the past two decades, scholars continue to deplore that local politics and local governance in South Korea remain a far cry from democracy. This paper addresses the intriguing question of "democratic lag" in South Korea. It argues that one of the main sources/causes of slow democratization at the local level lies in the underdevelopment and lack of empowerment of local civil society. The paper first introduces the concept of "democratic lag" to conceptualize asymmetric democratization in South Korea. Next, it describes and assesses various theoretical accounts explaining the absence of local democracy and highlights an underdeveloped civil society as a cause. The paper then submits several "vignettes" of the reality of local politics. After explaining why such underdevelopment of civil society has resulted, the paper concludes with a set of policy prescriptions for empowering local civil society and thereby resolving the problem of "democratic lag" in South Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study looks at the relationships between religion, democracy, and peace. It is based on this premise that this article examines how religion is used to consolidate democracy and promote peace in societies, using Nigeria as its framework of analysis. Using the qualitative method of analysis where emphasis is placed on primary and secondary documents, which involve articles, reports, and newspaper articles triangulating with key informant interviews (KIIs) and stakeholder analysis, the findings of this article suggest that religion plays a significant role in the consolidation of democracy and peace given its important place in advocating some principles and ideals of democracy, which involve equity, fairness, freedom, pluralism, respect for diversities, and defending minority rights, amongst others. However, challenges associated with the weaponization of religion to pursue selfish political agenda and interests by both religious and political elites in Nigeria has become more of a norm than what is expected between both variables. This has helped in the creation of a hostile and unstable political environment, and in the pervasion of democratic and political institutions and agencies responsible for promoting accountable leadership, good governance, representative governance, political interference, and repressive policies, limiting the rights and freedoms of citizens who continue to impede the enhancement of a strongly consolidated democratic culture and peace in transition democracies such as Nigeria. This article suggests the need for relevant actors to ensure that institutions of the state are strengthened to provide the dividends of democracy. This can be achieved by addressing the challenge of the negative use of religion by the elites to advance unholy political interests and agenda. It is also important to create machinery to address the structural problems that breed poverty; political, economic, and social exclusion; and human rights abuses, limiting political and electoral freedoms. Addressing these challenges also requires relevant stakeholders and actors to understand that the process is multi-pronged, which also requires acknowledging, accommodating, and accepting individual and group diversities and, above all, requires the patience and the political will of these actors to ensure its actualization. Addressing these concerns will significantly strengthen and enhance the consolidation of democracy and peace in fragile and transition societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there are many studies on the democratization trajectory of former communist countries of Eastern Europe, only a few of them have a particular focus on how transitional justice helps democratic consolidation. The present comparative study seeks to fill that gap by focusing specifically on the cases of Romania and Albania, situating them in the wider kaleidoscope of former Eastern Europe. Some of these countries have had a fast implementation of transitional justice measures and successful democratization. Yet, despite adopting an early mechanism of transitional justice, others did not necessarily have any particular success in their democratic endeavour. On the other hand, additional states have had democratic consolidation despite not undertaking such rapid measures (for example Estonia), while others have failed either to adopt the transitional justice mechanisms or democratizing at all (i.e., Belarus). The present paper offers a theoretical framework that seeks to capture and explain such dynamics and by referring specifically to the telling cases of Romania and Albania, to explain what role and impact transitional justice measures have in democratic transitions.

Abstract Latin American regional organisations (ROs) have been active in the area of citizen security for at least a twenty year-period. An important relationship between citizen security and the democratic consolidation of ROs’ official documents in the Latin American region has been unexplored. This leads us to the main question of this paper: ‘What has been the role of ROs with a formalized level of citizen security cooperation in the democratic consolidation?’ To answer this question, this research was based on two case studies: The Central American Integration System (SICA) and the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) between 2008 and 2018, the period during which both organizations acted in the area of citizen security. The methodology used in this research was process tracing and comparative process tracing. Its results indicate that organisations developed a vision of how cooperative actions in citizen security can promote the consolidation of democracy by strengthening the rule of law. However, actors are sceptical of the ability of ROs to succeed, given the lack of political interest and the deficit of resources, that are major barriers for them to achieve great success in the citizen security field and, consequently, in the consolidation of democracy. The conclusion is that the analysed ROs produce a lot in terms of documents, but do little in achieving their ambitions, hence constituting, in and of themselves, a reflection of the flaws of the Latin American regionalism.

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