Democratic Institutions in the Global South (DEMINGS)


  • This project contributes new knowledge on the functioning of democratic institutions in the Global South, their (in)efficacy to constrain powerful executives, and the effects of particular institutions on both democratic quality and regime stability. The focus is on countries with presidential constitutions, i.e., those with directly elected presidents, an institutional choice that extended worldwide in the last decades.
    Leibniz Competition, 2021-2026



    Routledge Studies in Latin American Politics | Routledge | 06/2023

    Latin America in Times of Turbulence: Presidentialism under Stress

    This book accounts for and analyses the latest developments in Latin American presidential democracies, with a special focus on political institutions.

    Prof. Dr. Leiv Marsteintredet

    Department of Comparative Politics, University of Bergen


    More on the Leibniz Programme for Women Professors
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    Research Questions

    In this project, funded by the Leibniz Programme for Women Professors and conducted in cooperation with the Universität Erfurt, researchers engage with the in-depth, context-bound study of political institutions in their country or region of expertise, while remaining sensitive to similar developments in other regions of the world. The main research questions are:
    (1)Under what conditions can powerful executives in consolidating democracies be rendered accountable?
    (2)How do incumbents go about institutional constraints? When are they prone to adhere to existing constitutional rules or instead inclined to bending or changing such rules? Which rules do they tinker with, through which mechanisms, and with which results?
    (3)Under what conditions do democratic institutions have the power to challenge powerful presidents? How do institutions build capacity to prevent presidential abuses of power? What role do courts and legislatures play as control institutions?
    (4)What is the impact of troublesome inter-institutional relations on the quality of democracy and democratic survival?

    Contribution to International Research

    By answering these questions, the project contributes to different bodies of academic scholarship: the burgeoning literature on democratic backsliding and autocratization, extensive comparative politics literature on presidential powers and their constraints, and the diverse contributions from area studies on the workings of political institutions in individual countries. A central goal of this project is to engage and to train young scholars in the analysis of democratic institutions and their policy and politics implications. In addition, the project aims to sensitize decision-makers, civil society actors, and citizens on the importance of democratic institutions for the future of global democracy.

    Research Design and Methods

    The project undertakes context-sensitive comparative research on democratic institutions within and across the regions of the Global South. This research strategy aims to enrich our understanding of political institutions in different ways, such as through the incorporation of conceptual and theoretical perspectives that are used to understand similar phenomena in different world regions or by highlighting the specificities of certain regional and subregional institutional developments. The project embraces the cooperative research agendas of the principal investigator, postdoc researchers and doctoral researchers. Current research topics include the politics of presidential term limits in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa, presidential impeachments, institutional innovations in the judiciary, and multilevel party systems in Latin America.


    Policy Paper | 08/2024

    Going Public: A Strategy to Increase Trust and to Protect Independence

    Mechanisms of social participation help courts to take more inclusive decisions,
    gain more trust from the population as well as the support they need in cases of political attacks against their independence and power.

    Edited Volume | 06/2024

    América Central: El derecho ante democracias desafiadas

    Within an ongoing global debate on autocratization, the present book aims to study a region that still seems to be insufficiently analyzed in the global discourse: Central America. Nine thematic chapters on El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua explore the scope, paths and mechanisms of autocratization, while also examining resistance and opposition, combining legal-political analysis. The chapters hence make contributions with regards to 1. institutions, power structures and mechanisms of autocratization; 2. actors and mechanisms of resistance; and 3. international law, introducing the applicable standards to situations of autocratization.

    GIGA Focus Latin America | 1/2024

    Guatemala: A Vote for Turning the Tide

    In Guatemala, President Bernardo Arévalo took office on 15 January 2024, raising hopes of democratic reform. Still, an entrenched elite has continuously distorted the independence of the judiciary. Not only are elections highly contested; democracy itself is on the line. Can Guatemala turn the tide?

    GIGA researcher Alina Ripplinger Received the Best Conference Paper Award for Early-Career Researcher at the ECPR 2024

    Award | European Consortium for Political Research | 10/2024

    GIGA researcher Alina Ripplinger Received the Best Conference Paper Award for Early-Career Researcher at the ECPR 2024

    Alina Ripplinger has been awarded the Best Conference Paper Award for an Early-Career Researcher. Her paper, entitled “Politics of Legal Resistance: The strategic use of law to counter autocratization,” presented at the ECPR General Conference, received this honor by the SG Law & Courts.

    Wohin steuert die brasilianische Demokratie? Von Bolsonaro bis Lula Die aktuelle politische und gesellschaftliche Situation in Brasilien

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