ABSTRACT
Provoked by the worst economic crisis since the 1930s and a bizarre coalition of dissident army officers and thousands of disgruntled Indians, Ecuador's longest period of uninterrupted democratic rule came to an end with the beginning of the new millennium. From the very outset, however, the struggle for power between Roldós and Bucaram weakened the government and underlined the fragility of the nascent democracy. Ecuador must overcome a political system that is hampered by serious residual elements of an authoritarian political culture if it wants to do more than muddle through with a fragile and dependent "democracy" in a constant state of economic and political crisis. The elections of 1978-1979, the first since 1970, reflected the political changes then in progress. To govern Ecuador successfully also means getting along with major actors in the international arena, particularly the United States and international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
