ABSTRACT

Between December 2005 and December 2006, eleven Latin American countries held presidential elections. Altogether, 80 percent of the Latin American population went to the polls-about 250 million voters. In addition to Brazil and Mexico, the two largest countries in the region, Colombia,

Peru, Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, Haiti, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua chose new leaders or re-elected incumbents. Among the most populous nations, Argentina was the only large country without an election in 2006. Because some countries are on a four-year cycle and others are on a five-year cycle (with Mexico being on a six-year cycle), only every sixty years can we expect such an active election season. Yet, sixty years ago all but three countries in the region had competitive democracies. Moreover, few would expect the next sixty years to go smoothly without alterations in the electoral calendar in every Latin American country.