Ruling from the legislative

the political logic of the Ecuadorian right-wing

Abstract

This article analyzes the parliamentary practice of the Social Christian Party in Ecuador during the overthrows of Bucaram (1997), Mahuad (2000) and Gutiérrez (2005), as well as in the attempted impeachment against Lasso (2022) where their votes were decisive in blocking that option, which was applied a year later at the initiative of the president to block a political trial against him, dissolving the Legislature and calling for elections anticipated, which did not end his mandate (2021-2025) either. The role of the PSC in the Executive-Legislative conflict was a vital condition to set up a cycle of instability that caused there to be seven presidents in ten years (1997-2007) as a result of a combination of social protest, military riots and “institutional departures” from the Congress. Did the PSC consolidate a logic of political domination over the Executives on duty that strengthened democracy or, on the contrary, weakened it to the point of causing the collapse of the party system and the (re) emergence of the much “feared” populism? This question guides this research