Public domain. Pixabay.
Latin America has always been a region of deep contradictions, and this is especially true when one considers its politics and democracy. Despite its authoritarian past that continues to show through in some political practices and institutions, the region has experimented with democracy in very innovative ways in recent years. Likewise, whereas the region still suffers from deep social inequality and is not yet free from poverty and hunger, Latin America is the world’s third largest regional online market and its internet penetration rate is above the world’s average, half of which is due to intense smartphone usage.
It is not surprising then that one of the preeminent areas of democratic innovation in Latin America today is associated with the use of information and communications technology (ICT), and that decreasing levels of digital exclusion have been enabling higher levels of political inclusion. Since 2011, as countries began joining the Open Government Partnership and committed to open data and e-government, alongside more transparency and responsiveness, civil society organizations have been surfing through a multitude of policies to expand internet access that governments have been putting in place. Even if digital inequality varies across countries and within different areas of those countries, innovations based on ICT-tools have been growing all over the region, helping to connect citizens not only among themselves and their governments, but also with politics and democracy.
