This was an election that was meant to cement authoritarian rule and it became a democratic breakthrough.

Rachel Schwartz

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A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com.

Rachel Schwartz is an assistant professor of international and area studies at the University of Oklahoma. Recently, she cowrote an article with Anita Isaacs for the Journal of Democracy called, “How Guatemala Defied the Odds." She also authored a book earlier this year called Undermining the State from Within: The Institutional Legacies of Civil War in Central America.

Key Highlights

• Introduction - 0:33
• The 2023 Election - 2:46
• A Weak State - 17:18
• Democratic Backsliding - 30:53
• Rejuvenating Democracy - 39:39

Key Links

Undermining the State from Within: The Institutional Legacies of Civil War in Central America by Rachel Schwartz

"How Guatemala Defied the Odds" in Journal of Democracy by Rachel Schwartz

"Guatemala: Resisting Democratic Backsliding in the Least Likely of Places?" by Rachel Schwartz

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