CLASSIFICATION OF POLITICAL REGIMES IN LATIN AMERICA: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE MAIN MEASUREMENT PLATFORMS

In Latin America, most countries have an intermediate ranking in relation to the quality of their democracies. The research presented an innovative form of comparative analysis of political regimes in Latin America. Following pioneering studies, our innovation is methodological. Our main objective was, based on the construction of an objective concept of democracy, to outline a standardized way of comparing regimes in the region. For this, we adopted the quantitative method of analyzing statistical data retrieved from the main research institutes measuring political regimes, these: The Economist Intelligence Unit (Democracy Index), the Varieties of Democracy Institute (V-DEM), and Freedom Casa, Lar. The research resulted in a trichotomic scale (democracy, semi-democracy or authoritarianism) of the analyzed regimes, with the standardization of the data in the statistical averages of the three data analysis platforms in the three institutes, in which the countries were highlighted in their democratic qualities. There was a high correlation between the results, with emphasis on the greater correlation between the Democracy Index and Freedom House institutes as being more associated and the V-DEM as being more judicious in the analysis of the countries. Thus, Uruguay, Costa Rica and Chile were identified as the most democratic. Most countries are located in an intermediate, or gray, zone between one regime and another (semi-democratic or semi-authoritarian). And Cuba, Venezuela and Haiti as the least democratic, or even authoritarian regimes.