Legal systems in different political orders (using the example of Latin American countries)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21564/2225-6555.2026.29.360302Keywords:
legal system, political order, democracy index, South America, Central America, the CaribbeanAbstract
The relevance of the study is determined by transformations in the political systems of modern countries, which affect the characteristics of legal systems and lead to changes in the manifestations of democratic systems. Such changes are clearly evident in Latin American countries. Research into the influence of political factors on legal systems will help prevent the negative manifestations of such processes in Ukraine during its own institutional reform. The purpose of this study is to identify the political causes and factors that contribute to differences within homogeneous legal systems. The task is to analyse the political systems of Latin American countries, identify key factors influencing the differences between these systems, and characterise the various processes that led to the transformation of their legal and political systems. For this purpose, the following materials were used: monographs, collections of articles by researchers, assessments by leading experts in political processes, annual classifications of countries according to the democracy index formed by The Economist, etc. The authors used a variety of scientific methods: philosophical (dialectical and hermeneutic), general scientific (systemic, structural-complex, content analysis, statistical-mathematical methods), and theoretical-legal methods (comparative-legal, historical-legal, formal-legal, legal forecasting method), and applied many principles, methods, and techniques of scientific research (principles of determinism and retrospective analysis, objectivity, historicism, classification, dogmatic-legal approach, principles of analogy, and logical analysis). The results of the study highlighted the peculiarities of different political systems in the Latin American region. The authors concluded that the legal systems of Latin American countries represent different groups of political systems. To divide into such groups, various factors should be taken into account, including the rule of law, democratic accountability of state bodies, and various indicators of democracy. Further research could explore the impact of various political processes and reforms on the characteristics of individual national legal systems in Latin American countries.
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