Politics of Peru

Politics of Peru
Constitution
Executive
Legislature
Congress of the Republic
President
Eduardo Salhuana
Judiciary

Supreme Court of the Republic
President Javier Arévalo Vela [es]

Autonomies
Elections
Administrative divisions
Foreign relations
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The politics of the Republic of Peru takes place in a framework of a unitary semi-presidential representative democratic republic,[1][2] whereby the President of Peru is both head of state and head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the President and the Government. Legislative power is vested in both the Government and the Congress. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Peru a "hybrid regime" in 2022.[3][needs update]

Traditionally weak political parties saw their support collapse further in Peru since 2000, paving the way for the rise of personalist leaderships.[4][5] The political parties in the congress of Peru are, according to political scientist Lucía Dammert, "agglomerations of individual and group interests more than solid and representative parties".[5]

The historian Antonio Zapata describes Peru as a "right-wing country"; the only left-wing government in contemporary history until the election of Pedro Castillo in 2021 was that of Juan Velasco Alvarado (1968-1975), author of an agrarian reform and the nationalization of strategic sectors.[6] Peru is also one of the most socially conservative nations in Latin America.[7]

Currently, almost all major media and political parties in the country are in favour of economic liberalism.[6] Those opposed to the neoliberal status quo or involved in left-wing politics are often targeted with fear mongering attacks called terruqueos, where individuals or groups are associated with terrorists involved with the internal conflict in Peru.[8][9]

  1. ^ Shugart, Matthew Søberg (September 2005). "Semi-Presidential Systems: Dual Executive and Mixed Authority Patterns" (PDF). Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 August 2008. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  2. ^ Shugart, Matthew Søberg (December 2005). "Semi-Presidential Systems: Dual Executive And Mixed Authority Patterns" (PDF). French Politics. 3 (3): 323–351. doi:10.1057/palgrave.fp.8200087. ISSN 1476-3427. OCLC 6895745903. Retrieved 31 August 2017. Only in Latin America have all new democracies retained a pure presidential form, except for Peru (president-parliamentary) and Bolivia (assembly-independent).
  3. ^ Democracy Index 2023: Age of Conflict (PDF). Economist Intelligence Unit (Report). 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2024-06-09. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Vargas, Felipe (November 11, 2020). "Atomización de fuerzas, caudillismos e inestabilidad política: Cómo entender el presente del Congreso de Perú". Emol (in Spanish). Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  6. ^ a b Chaparro, Amanda (June 2016). "Perú: la derecha o la derecha". Le Monde diplomatique.
  7. ^ "Peru Congress votes to host OAS summit after outrage over gender neutral bathrooms". Reuters. 2022-07-16. Retrieved 2022-07-16.
  8. ^ Feline Freier, Luisa; Castillo Jara, Soledad (13 January 2021). ""Terruqueo" and Peru's Fear of the Left". Americas Quarterly. Retrieved 2021-11-18.
  9. ^ "Qué es el "terruqueo" en Perú y cómo influye en la disputa presidencial entre Fujimori y Castillo". BBC News (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-11-18.