The trap of presidentialism: Systemic threats to democracy in Bolivia under Evo Morales

Maximilian Görgens' work builds on the debate on systems of government, which was discussed in particular by Juan Linz in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and demonstrates its relevance and topicality. For it is precisely in times when populists such as Donald Trump are in power that this debate must be revisited and discussed anew. Bolivia, a country that has received little attention in academic circles to date, serves as an example of the significant challenges facing research into democratic defects across much of the Americas. Drawing on Juan Linz's theory 'The Perils of Presidentialism', this paper examines the Morales administration from various perspectives. This aims to contribute to an understanding of the factors inherent in the system that destabilise democracy under the specific conditions of the MAS as a rallying point for social and indigenous movements. A constellation which, as the author argues, offers no protection against authoritarian patterns of behaviour typical of the system.