The electoral process in the region of Latin America plays a role in instigating, liberalizing, or democratizing authoritarian regimes. The degree of an election s competitiveness may signal which of these processes are underway. The political election is a critical building block for an institutionalized democracy. The electoral process itself is not universally the same throughout Latin America and through time. Elections in Latin American countries vary in the degree to which certain aspects of the process are restricted.
Elections can place limits on who can participate and how, who can win, and what winners do.
Even legally unrestrained elections rule out or marginalize undesirable candidates and issues through ideological , social, and financial intimidation. Dissident politicians try to test and stretch those limits, the bounds of which are defined through constant struggle. Elections play different roles in political systems depending on whether they take place in the context of regime liberalization or democratization. Political liberalization occurs when authoritarian regimes ease up on repression and introduce some civil and political rights. The dictator s dilemma of staging and manipulating a credible election bedevils most authoritarian regimes.