Global Journal of Human Social Science, F: Political Science, Volume 23 Issue 6

Source: EIU (2022). Figure 1: Quality of democracy in Latin America for the period of 2006-2022; values range from 1 to 10, where 10 is the best result and 0 is the worst result. Data provided by the EIU (2022) shows that Latin America is facing a democratic recession, with its average falling from a peak of 6.43 in 2006 to 5.79 in 2022, which represents a 0.64-point drop in the quality of democracy. Over the fourteen years shown on Figure 1, the downward trend continued despite some moments of slight positive reversal, such as from 2006 to 2008 and from 2012 to 2015; however, when we consider the period from 2006 to 2022 as whole, we see a general downward trend. Most Latin American countries saw a decline in their 2022 indices as compared to 2021; yet, nine countries saw growth and two remained stable. Although there are robust democracies in the region, such as in Uruguay, Costa Rica and Chile, whose performance values raise the average, the general trend remains unchanged since these countries have small populations, representing only 4% of the regional population. It is important to note that 45% of the region's inhabitants live under “hybrid” or “authoritarian” regimes, while 62% of citizens live in countries that have experienced a drop in the quality of democracy. Data displayed on Table 1 shows the quality indices, with reference to the "government functionality" aspect and the political regime adopted. Figure 2 shows "democratic stability" indices for the four studied countries, considering the effectiveness levels of democratic institutions and the degree to which they are accepted by citizens. Table 1: Classification of countries according to political regime and government functionality between 2017 and 2021. COUNTRY General score Position in ranking Variation recent Government functionality Political regime Brazil 6.78 51 -4 5.00 Weak democracy Colombia 6.73 53 6 6.67 Weak democracy Peru 5.92 75 -4 5.71 Hybrid political regime Bolivia 4.51 100 -2 4.29 Hybrid political regime Source: EIU (2022). © 2023 Global Journals Volume XXIII Issue VI Version I 32 Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2023 ( ) F Homicide Rates in Fragile Democracies: Reflections on the Paradoxes of Latin America