Democracy in the Global South: Historical elements and contemporary challenges

Abstract

This investigation aims to analyze democracy in the Global South, in its historical elements and contemporary challenges. The research contributes to a cosmopolitan vision of democracy. It is affirmed that even in a context of poverty and high ethnolinguistic diversity like in India, Indonesia, and Botswana, democracy can be achieved. The political economy hypothesis on oil income is advanced with the analysis from the Arab countries. Categories are offered to analyze the contemporary authoritarianism of Turkey and Venezuela. Moreover, the analysis of populism is deepened with the contemporary cases of India and Brazil.