Checks and Balances: Electoral Management Bodies as the Third Dimension of Accountability in Latin America
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26851/RUCP.33.13Keywords:
Checks and Balances, Electoral Management Bodies, Latin America, Vertical Accountability, Horizontal AccountabilityAbstract
The article focuses on the inclusion of the Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs) as the Fourth Branch of Power in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. These bodies have powers to ensure an impartial electoral administration, but also to control and fight non-democratic practices exercised by the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Our objective is to understand both their reciprocal oversight relationship with the traditional branches, and their place in the vertex where Horizontal and Vertical Accountability converge. We conclude that the EMBs execute the Third Dimension of Accountability; being highly important for rebuilding functional democracies they are under increasing attack by political powers. Our main contribution is to insert the EMBs in the theoretical discussions on Checks and Balances.
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