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Democratic hybridization and crisis of legitimacy in contemporary Peru: towards a multidimensional framework for political-institutional analysis

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Vol. 11 No. 2 (2025): julio 2025 - noviembre 2025
https://doi.org/10.5354/0719-6296.2025.80144
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Abstract

The crisis of institutional legitimacy in contemporary Peru constitutes a paradigmatic phenomenon that challenges classical analytical frameworks in democratic theory, as it reveals structural transformations in the patterns of authority, representation, and citizenship within democracies of the Global South. Accordingly, the aim of this article is to analyze the multidimensional configuration of this crisis between 1990 and 2025 through a theoretical approach that articulates the dynamics of state capture, erosion of the social pact, and transformation of citizenship. The purpose is to contribute to the understanding of hybrid democracies in contexts of persistent institutional weakness. The findings reveal the emergence of a specific hybrid regime described as a “captured clientelist democracy,” in which corruption becomes a structuring principle of state action, political cynicism is institutionalized as a mechanism of informal governance, and citizenship becomes fragmented and unequal, shaped by social capital, ethnic belonging, and proximity to informal power networks. Based on these results, the article concludes that political legitimacy must be reconceptualized as a relational and dynamic construct, whose interpretation requires moving beyond normative approaches to incorporate the historical, cultural, and territorial dimensions that define the actual exercise of power in contexts of weakened institutional frameworks.

Keywords:

Institutional legitimacy , Hybrid democracy , State capture , Asymmetric citizenship , Relational legitimacy , Clientelist democracy , Peru
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How to Cite
Gonzales-Mejía, A. F. (2025). Democratic hybridization and crisis of legitimacy in contemporary Peru: towards a multidimensional framework for political-institutional analysis: legitimidad. Journal Studies of Public Policy, 11(2), 142–157. https://doi.org/10.5354/0719-6296.2025.80144
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Journal Studies of Public Policy
Facultad de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas
Universidad de Chile
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