How Populism Corrodes Latin American Parties

One of the main ways in which populism damages democracy is through corrosion political-party systems, a phenomenon that has been especially pronounced contemporary Latin America. Populism’s core, namely charismatic leadership, to blame: Overbearing personalistic leaders avoid hemming their own autonomy and predominance by keeping electoral movements organizationally fluid weak. And because opposing entails confronting leader rather than clear programmatic project, opposition itself remains diverse heterogeneous thus fails unify form political party. America’s fragmented social structure, high economic volatility, frequent corruption scandals exacerbate these corrosive tendencies.