Paraguayan democratic political culture: An analytical approach to some of the main obstacles to its consolidation

Abstract

This paper theoretically addresses the deficient development of democratic political culture in Paraguay by focusing on the main factors hindering its consolidation. It is a theoretical study based on a qualitative approach, implementing bibliographical review and content analysis techniques and employing logical methods of mainly inductive and deductive inference. Studies indicate that Paraguayan democracy is fragile or defective, and that its democratic political culture is of low quality. This is reflected, for example, in the negative perceptions and attitudes of members of Paraguayan society toward democracy, as well as in practices carried out across different social spaces, all of which have various consequences. It is proposed that structural factors feedback and foster the reproduction of an antidemocratic social order, but that these conditioning problems and challenges can be addressed by social agents to promote social change and develop a more democratic society.