INVERTED DEMOCRACY: BETWEEN ENCEPHALY AND HEGEMONY: TOWARDS A CONCEPTUAL FORMULATION IN A CASE STUDY

Abstract

Two apparently opposite phenomena happened in South America after the third wave of democratization: Instable leadership, characterized the anticipated end of presidential mandates (as Carlos A. Pérez, Fernando de la Rúa, Gonzalo S. de Lozada) and hegemonic leadership, with personal use of presidential powers (As Carlos Menem, Hugo Chávez, Álvaro Uribe). This article explains these extreme alternatives conceptualizing political regime as inverted democracy. In order to create an operational concept, the first step is an analysis of the president’s political institutional position in some socio-economic context. This approach helps enables the study of different kinds of presidential regimes, mixing an institutional dimension with political attitudes and behavior of leaders and relevant social actors in the political game.