Ecuador And Democracy :: essays research papers fc

Ecuador and DemocracyBriefly, democracy is a matter of degree and quality. Confusion oftenarises in discussion round democracy. This stems from the varied premisespeople have in mind when they use the term. In my opinion, most people fail tospecify their underlying premises, and we often incorporate into our hotshot ofdemocracy disparate factors that may or may not relate to it. To avoid suchconfusion, we must identify the key ideas central to democracy and clear upprecisely how the term will be used. The best way to study democracy is tolearn the other countries, so in this time I choose one of Latin Americancountries, Ecuador for well-understanding of the process of democracy.Ecuador is graphically one of the worlds most varied countries despiteits small size, which at 283520 sq. km is about the size of every New Zealandor Nevada State. Ecuador staddles the equator on the Pacific coast of SouthAmerica and is bordered by only two countries, Colombia to the north and Peru tothe south and east.The estimated population of Ecuador in 1991 was 10,800,00. This isapproximately 10 times the number of Indian estimated to have been living in thearea at the time of the Spanish conquest. The population density of about 38people per sq. km is the highest of any South American nation.Like other Latin American countries, the major religion is RomanCatholicism. Some of the elderly cities have splendid 16th and 17th-centuryCatholic churches. Although churches of other faiths can found, they form onlya very small minority. The Indians, while outwardly Roman Catholic, race toblend Catholicism with their traditional beliefs. In Ecuador, Spanish is themain language. Most Indians are bilingual, with Quechua being their preferredlanguage and Spanish their second tongue.Ecuador, that is the smallest of the Andean countries, is a republicwith a democratic government headed by a president. The first constitution waswritten in 1830, but has had several changes since then, the mo st recent in 1978.Democratically elected governments have regularly been toppled by coups, oftenled by the military. Since 1979, however, all governments have been freelyelected. All literate citizens over 18 have the vote and the president mustreceive over 50% of the vote to be elected. With at least 13 differentpolitical parties, 50% of the vote is rarely achieved, in which case there is asecond round between the top two contenders. A president governs for a uttermostof five years and cannot be reelected.The recent elections were in 1988, with 10 candidates running for