Variations of Democratic Decline in Central America

Central American countries have experienced a persistent decline in the quality of their democracies, including a shift toward authoritarian or even sultanistic regimes. Despite their shared historical trajectories and socio-political experiences, these countries’ paths toward democratic decline and autocratization differ markedly—not only from each other, but also from broader global patterns. Drawing on the concept of contingent consent as a key pillar of inter-elite democratic competition and coexistence, this article analyzes the specific failures of such consent in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua, and explores how its breakdowns have affected the quality of democracy—leading, in some cases, to its complete collapse.