%0 Article %A Zovatto, Daniel %D 2018 %T El estado de las democracias en América Latina a casi cuatro décadas del inicio de la tercera ola democrática %U https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/oaiart?codigo=6273217 %X This year Latin America celebrates the 39th anniversary of the beginning of the Third Democratic Wave. This anniversary also coincides with the beginning of an electoral “super cycle” which, in a brief term of 26 months, will determine that 14 out of the 18 countries of the region will hold their presidential elections. Thus, the moment is propitious to carry out an assessment on the current situation of Latin American democracies and reflect on the priorities and the challenges of the political and electoral agenda of the coming years. This article presents an assessment based on two preliminary points. The first one is the need to carry out a balanced analysis of the regional democratization process. An assessment that moves away from a pessimistic, simplistic and complacent view and which can show the progress made throughout these 39 years as well as the deficiencies and challenges that our democracies currently face. The second point is about the need to have an analysis that can show the structural heterogeneity of Latin America provided that, even though the region is one, there are important differences in regard to the quality of the democracies in the 18 countries of the region