Not many would disagree, international observers and Bolivians alike, that this upcoming election in Bolivia will be a fork in the road for the country and the state of its democracy. The election will take place on October 20th of this year. Why is this election so controversial in the eyes of many? It is because it is possible that this election may be another step backwards towards a less free or even authoritarian Bolivia. Evo Morales, the current president of Bolivia, was elected to his first five-year term in 2005. Morales is now running for his fourth term in 2019. While his first election was a landslide victory, the process leading up to his fourth election has been his most difficult yet. This is in large part due to many realizing the tactics that Morales has employed to erode Bolivia’s democracy and remain in power. Morales was never supposed to have a fourth term. Bolivia’s constitution forbid presidents for serving for more than three terms, a check to power to protect Bolivia’s democracy and prevent any one person for ruling for a lifetime. Thus, when Morales began his campaign to abolish term limits in order to continue leading Bolivia, many were reasonably worried as that can often be a slippery slope.
Morales’s Popularity
Despite worries of a deteriorating democracy, Morales still is popular in Bolivia. Perhaps he not as popular during his first two terms, but he still leads in many presidential polls. Many would classify Evo Morales as a populist, including Steven Levitsky and James Loxton in their article “Populism and competitive authoritarianism in the Andes”. The article cites his candidacy stemming from the cocoa grower’s movement, and Morales was the first indigenous president in a country that is 60% indigenous. Morales’s platform was as a man for the people, but Levitsky and Loxton describe him has a different sort of populist than say other Latin American populists like Hugo Chávez of Venezuela or Alberto Fujimori of Peru. Morales is a movement populist: his populism was rooted in the grassroots movement around him and his political party, MAS, rather than him personally or his personality. Morales also remains popular not just because of his ideology, but his accomplishments as well. Morales’s policies have helped the Bolivian economy significantly, cutting the poverty rate from 2002 by more than half by 2012.
Morales’s Potential Autocracy
Perhaps this distinction would prevent Morales from attempting to dismantle democratic norms in the country, but as we’ve seen this is not the case. Morales and his political party had little investment in the current political institutions, which most likely has played a roll in Morales’s quest for a fourth term. It is important to address what strategies Evo Morales used to eventually remove term limits to pave the way for his presidential run this year. His technique is in reality very much in line with many of the other populists in the recent decades who have eroded democracy in their countries, which is another bad sign for Bolivia. The first was Morales’s attempt to use a referendum to legitimize the abolishment of term limits in 2016. This is to give the half-true appearance of a democracy, to demonstrate that it is the people’s will for Morales to remain in power potentially indefinitely. However, this referendum failed to pass. This led to Morales instituting another technique, which is mentioned by Ozan Varol in his article “Stealth Authoritarianism”. Morales used the judiciary, which is normally a check against the executive’s power, to actually consolidate power and make a ruling in his favor; that preventing someone from running on past terms was a “human right violation”, thus eliminating term limits in Bolivia. The judiciary of Bolivia in fact was once a conservative branch against Morales which he replaced, mentioned in Levitsky and Loxton’s article. “Stacking the courts” as one might put it, is another symptom of “stealth authoritarianism”, strategic use of pre-existing laws and norms to consolidate power in the executive.
This all sounds pretty damming for Morales as a democratic leader. Since his multiple terms, Freedom House has lowered Bolivia’s freedom status from “free” to “partly free”. However, while Morales may have used his power to allow himself to run for another term, the election in itself is expected to be fair. Morales’s highest polling opposition candidate is Carlos Mesa and despite the numbers being somewhat competitive, Mesa has his own set of problems. Mesa was former vice president of Bolivia, serving under Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, who had to resign amid mass protests where the state killed 60 people in an attempt to repress the protests. Mesa thus became president, but then was also forced to resign. This was the condition Bolivia was in when Morales ran for president and was elected. Thus, many Bolivians are not sure what they should do: Evo Morales seems to be consolidating power bit by bit, yet under his administration the country has improved significantly. Carlos Mesa seems to be the exact opposite of this: a president of Bolivia when the country was in a worse state and a representation of Bolivia’s elite, but has respect for democratic institutions and norms. Depending on where you stand in society will change your outlook on the presidential race. The only thing that is certain is that this may very well be one of the most significant elections in modern Bolivian history.
I really enjoyed reading your post. You do a great job of laying out a comprehensive case for democratic erosion in Bolivia and how Morales has played a significant role. I think it’s especially interesting that in this upcoming election, Bolivia now faces a crossroads between the establishment and the further erosion of democratic norms in the country. This is a similar situation that many countries experiencing democratic erosion around the world are in and this is a great, focused case study. I would love to know more about Mesa’s and the opposition’s response to Morales seeking a fourth term, especially given that the referendum for getting rid of term limits failed. Given that it seems at least probable that Morales may win a fourth term, I think it is also important to examine any serious opposition and attempts to preserve democratic norms in Bolivia. I also think it’s interesting to focus on eradicating term limits in the context of stealth authoritarianism. On its face, it seems like a fairly blatant authoritarian practice, but you do a great job of showing how Morales has manipulated existing legal structures to cement his own power. Overall, great job!
Hi Brett, I found it interesting that you brought up that Bolivia seems to have improved under Morales’ administration. In fact, this appears to be true; Bolivia has experienced an unprecedented economic upturn under Morales. However, we must ask ourselves, at what cost does this improvement come, and if the ends justify the means in this situation, and this is reflected well when you state that Bolivians are confused as to the actions they should take for the election. As you discussed, Morales has been categorized as both a potentially authoritarian and populist leader, as he has slowly been eroding democracy within the country. If Morales does come into power in the elections this year and this gradual trend in democratic backsliding under Morales continues, I wonder when Bolivians will decide when the ends no longer justify the means and the action they might take against this democratic backsliding and the potential threat that this backsliding may pose to the people and their rights.
It is nice to look back at this article today after Bolivia’s October 2019 election that resulted to Morales’s victory. Through this article we understand the face value of the election for Morales and why it has become so necessary for him to win this – as a way to legitimize his stay in power despite imposing an authoritarian leadership in a supposed democratic state.
Interestingly, the events that transpired after the election opened Bolivia to a new era of democratic decline. Morales and his constitutionally-designated successors resigned from office in November that created a power vacuum. A few days later, head of the Bolivian Senate Jeanine Anez declared herself as the interim president. Morales is claiming that he left because of a coup which the Bolivian military and the current political majority is denying. Further, the Organization of American States released a final report saying that there was a manipulation of the election results.
Looking at your article and recent statements released by Anez, as well the type of people they put in power to fix the power vacuum. We can see the contrast of the two leaders on their stance on issues like the indigenous peoples rights. Right now, we have no clue who will be the next leader of Bolivia, but given the current situation where old supporters of Morales are choosing to not participate in making institutions function, the Bolivian leaders and people are taking more steps away from a true democracy instead of protecting it.
The continuous democratic decline in Bolivia now is not a new phenomena, and your article was able to give us a glimpse on how Morales, despite his policies that helped ease poverty as well as his empowerment the indigenous peoples, changed institutions in his favor. Countries that let their institutions be changed in favor of the ruling leader lose their freedom.
Hi Brett. Reading this after Evo Morales resigned is revealing of the situations that Bolivians faced in the elections and the factors that they had to consider when making the decision. It is true that Morales has improved the lives of many Bolivians under this term but indeed, at what cost? Does improvements in living conditions among Bolivians justifies his concentration of power? If the government is able to provide for our basic needs, and some more, how willing are we sacrifice our right to democracy? Evidence of election fraud has been concluded recently by the International Panel but even after this was ruled out, there’s still street clashes and crackdowns from protesters, causing deep civil unrest. Now it seems that Bolivia is more deeply divided than before. What future lies ahead for Bolivians? This is definitely something we can keep an eye out.
You do a good job at laying out the democratic eroding factors that have followed the Morales Administration. Reading this on April 24, 2020 is very interesting because not only do we have the knowledge that his “victory” in the 2019 is null and void, but that the interim government has made things much worse. You are correct to point out that Bolivia under Morales had many benefits. He was and still is supported by a large portion of the country and is continuing to try and protest the wrongdoings of this new administration. What we know now is that Jeanine Áñez has taken over the country “in the name of democracy”, but also at the cost of voter purges, violent suppression of the people, wrongful detainment, and barring of elected officials from entering the legislature. The secondary election that was supposed to be held in early May has been cancelled due to COVID-19 and there must be a vote in congress to approve another date. Unfortunately, the interim administration has barred MAS officials from voting before, so the precedent does not look good for another election being voted on anytime soon. Democracy may have been eroded by the Morales administrations, but it has been stripped by the interim administration.