Latin America and the Caribbean is today the most democratic developing region and the third most democratic worldwide. 

More than four out of five citizens in the region live under governments elected through electoral processes.

Yet this strength coexists with growing tension: democracies that endure, but face pressures that distort and threaten their ability to represent citizens, manage conflict, and deliver tangible development and well-being outcomes. This is one of the central conclusions of the new regional report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Democracies Under Pressure: Reimagining the Futures of Democracy and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, launched today in Montevideo alongside the President of Uruguay, Yamandú Orsi.

The report examines these pressures through an integrated lens linking democracy, the state, and development, and proposes strategic actions to strengthen democratic quality, advance human development, and improve state capacity.

“The future of democracy and development will depend on our collective ability to transform pressure into progress without sacrificing human agency or freedoms. In this shared challenge, UNDP will continue supporting the governments and societies of Latin America and the Caribbean. The report, conceived both as a product and as a process, supports the transformation of pressures into coordinated action, tangible progress, and resilient results for citizens,” said Michelle Muschett, UNDP Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean

More than two decades after the first regional democracy report was published in 2004—which warned about the gap between electoral citizenship and social citizenship—the new report highlights both progress and persistent challenges in a more uncertain and complex global context. Structural inequality, political party crises, and institutional distrust are increasingly intensified by overlapping pressures, including polarisation, disinformation, organised crime, planetary crises, and the accelerating pace of technological transformation, among others.

In response, the report proposes a comprehensive understanding of democracy. Its sustainability depends not only on rules and institutions, but also on its ability to expand freedoms, maintain a credible social contract, and deliver concrete results for citizens in contexts of mounting pressure.