Des candidatures hors parti dans une démocratie en construction : les comités civiques du Guatemala (1985-2015)

Abstract

The Guatemalan civic committees are the oldest procedure for appointing independent political candidatures in Latin America. This article investigates this particular political practice since the democratic transition of 1985 until the last elections (in 2015), from two perspectives: on one hand, the frequency with which the civil society used the way of the civic committee to take part in the elections; on the other hand, the electoral results of these independent options. The study determinates two lasting and successive tendencies: first a constant and marked rise of the phenomenon; then an also continued and important decline. It presents explanations to that clear evolution. The article concludes with an assessment of some contributions and limits of civic committees in consolidating the young and weak Guatemalan democracy.

Keywords

• democracy
• participation
• elections
• political organizations