Max Cameron, newly installed as head of UBC’s Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions, is currently down in Peru, hanging out with Latin America’s ex-presidents and discussing the “Inter-American Democratic Charter” on the occasion of its tenth anniversary.
His report on the event can be found here. Humala gets a thumbs-up; Aznar, a thumbs-down. And the absence of Lula and Bachelet is regretted.
Meanwhile, you can also read Max’s own intervention, in which he argues for the appointment of a “democracy inspector.”
But such inspections would have to take account of the fact that there are many forms of democracy, rather than a single model that can or should be imposed everywhere. In Max’s own words, “I tried to reinforce Humala’s message about the importance of recognizing that there is no single model of democracy and that democracy means not just respecting a given democratic model but also the right to choose the form of government that the public wants.”