Leiden University Student Repository

Meer, Dionne van der (2017)

Democratic Consolidation in Guatemala: The Effect of CAFTA-DR on the Strengthening of Democratic Institutions

Bachelor thesis | International Studies (BA)

The thesis is concerned with the topic of democratic consolidation in Guatemala. The country became a formal democracy in the 1980s, but since that moment it has started an ongoing process of democratic consolidation. Within the same time period we see the emergence of neoliberalism in the region. Neoliberalism focused on the opening up of markets to international trade and included the introduction of many free trade agreements such as CAFTA-DR. While CAFTA-DR had as primary objective to facilitate trade, there were also political objectives attached to it that revolved around promoting democracy in the region. The aim of the thesis is to research how CAFTA-DR promoted democracy and to what extent it contributed to the strengthening of democratic institutions in Guatemala. The thesis identifies three main ways through which CAFTA-DR influences democratic consolidation. The agreement aims at increasing institutional transparency, strengthening the rule of law and enhancing...Show moreThe thesis is concerned with the topic of democratic consolidation in Guatemala. The country became a formal democracy in the 1980s, but since that moment it has started an ongoing process of democratic consolidation. Within the same time period we see the emergence of neoliberalism in the region. Neoliberalism focused on the opening up of markets to international trade and included the introduction of many free trade agreements such as CAFTA-DR. While CAFTA-DR had as primary objective to facilitate trade, there were also political objectives attached to it that revolved around promoting democracy in the region. The aim of the thesis is to research how CAFTA-DR promoted democracy and to what extent it contributed to the strengthening of democratic institutions in Guatemala. The thesis identifies three main ways through which CAFTA-DR influences democratic consolidation. The agreement aims at increasing institutional transparency, strengthening the rule of law and enhancing accountability structures. While there are many elements present in the agreement that help to strengthen democratic institutions, obstacles are present that can significantly limit the effect of the agreement.Show less

democratic consolidation

Guatemala

CAFTA-DR

Neoliberalism

Author

Meer, Dionne van der

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Supervisors

Solheim, H.

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en