El papel de los movimientos sociales en la consolidación democrática: reflexiones alrededor del caso ecuatoriano en perspectiva comparada

In the 1990s, the theoretical and political debate focused on the role of social movements in democratic consolidation. This article seeks to analyze if social movements reached a better political insertion that resulted beneficial for the consolidation of democracy. For this aim, it is necessary to make a critical evaluation from two standpoints: first, from a comparative perspective, in reference to the persistent crisis of democracy and recent debates that have appeared around the different ways to obtain its consolidation; and second, grounded on the empirical evidence of the Ecuadorean experience, in reference to the effects ad limits of the political reforms implemented during the 1990s in order to reach this consolidation. In this sense, the Ecuadorean case poses many questions, since until 1997 it was considered as a succesful example of democratization, and afterwards it turned into a paradigmatic case of political inestability.