democracia, crenças e cultura política na américa latina: da naturalização à construção dos conceitos, uma comparação

This paper aims to discuss the concept of democracy in Latin America, considering it as a concept and a practice socially and historically built. In these sense, the concept of Political Culture is used in order to understand the values and beliefs of the Latin American’s citizenship. The article wonders about the existing values and beliefs, and the legitimacy of a democratic system. It discusses the classical views on democracy and argues that liberal democracy is intrinsic with capitalism. Finally, the paper contributes to the debate on democracy seeking to address the distinction between formal and substantive democracies, and the cultural values that legitimize it.