International Organizations and the Protection of Democracy in Latin America

What explains the varied authority of international organizations in protecting the rule of law and democracy when faced with democratic regression? While scholarship is often optimistic about the capacity of these institutions to counter antidemocratic forces, the empirical reality presents a mixed bag. Informed by an empirical, sociolegal approach grounded in the theory of de facto authority of international organizations, this paper assesses the role and impact of Latin American international organizations in the current crisis of democracy.