APLICACIÓN DE CONCEPTOS PARA EL ESTUDIO DE LA INESTABILIDAD POLÍTICA COMO AMENAZA A LA SEGURIDAD DE LAS NACIONES ANDINAS: EL CASO ECUATORIANO

Abstract

This article attempts to explore analytical elements that may help to understand the complex relationship between security and democracy in developing countries, and then apply them to the case of Ecuador. The document is divided in two parts: The first, outlies a conceptual framework that endows the reader with the tools to understand the link betweeen security and democracy. For this purpose, the works and ideas of Mohammed Ayoob and Andreas Schedler are studied; the first with regard to Security Analysis in Third Wolrd Countries, and the second with regard to Democratic Consolidation in young democracies. The second part of this work, analyzes the case of Ecuador, describing the historical elements that underlie the current political turmoil, the highpoint of the political crisis, which begins with the democratic reestablishment and carries on until the present; and the participation of Native Ecuadoreans Indian groups in politics. Finally, we wish to put forward a conclusion that seeks to open the debate about the obstacles in the Ecuadorian nation building process, since those difficulties explain the main threat to this country's security: political instability.