Topic: Authoritarianism and Democracy
Country: Bolivia
Delegate Name: Kyle Korte
School: Forest Hills Eastern High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Bolivia position papers GLIMUN 2017 committees
Democracy is universally recognized as one of the core ideals of the United Nations, and, according to the Democracy Papers, has become a prevalent governmental system, outnumbering autocracies by 80 countries, and anocracies by 50. The UN advocated for it through the Sustainable Development Goal 16; this goal promotes rule of law and the people’s access to justice, security, and human rights. While electoral democracy has proven to progress some nations’ economies and facilitate for sociopolitical success, elected officials may give rise to authoritarian regimes that repress a nation’s citizens, a succession of events that been observed in many situations. This new surge in authoritarian regimes completely defies the democratic ideals and values held by the UNDP in numerous ways. All of these consequences not only affect the nation, but also the national community, therefore it is imperative that the United Nations addresses this influx of authoritarian governments and fight the corruption presented by these regimes.
With an unstable democratic past, Bolivia has experienced many of these indicators of authoritarianism, but has overcome them in the current Morales administration with the help of United Nations Democratic Fund. Bolivia’s status as a hybrid government in the 2016 Democracy Index, a company that indexes countries based on electoral processes and pluralism, civil liberties, functioning of government, and political participation, demonstrates our democratic growth. President Morales is a progressive Bolivian leader through creating a new constitution that gave equal rights to the indigenous people that make up 60% of the population, including Morales. The UN has provided us with constitutional support for years, and they guided us in the creation of our new Constitution through their Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Through the Institutional Strategic Plan for the period 2013-2017, we strive to create an inclusive, participatory, and transparent democracy that allow for us to represent the best interests of our people. Transparency will achieve public accountability and fight corruption in the government. In addition, we believe that continuity of government authority is the key to national development, however, we create plans and programs that will progress Bolivia under any administration. Ultimately, we recognize the views of the people, meaning that we will do everything in our power to meet their needs and wants.
Bolivia proposes that the UN should secure existing democracies through promoting transparency, a crucial aspect in democracy. The people need to be properly informed in order to be able choose leadership with full knowledge; to give the people this information, the government must establish transparency. We recommend for the UN to facilitate for governmental transparency through promoting governments to allow for their citizens to access information and encouraging individual participation in democratic processes.
