Institutionality, Disillusionment and Potemkin Politics

Abstract

This article critically analyzes the narrative about the State legitimacy´s crisis in Ecuador and the topic of deinstitutionalization. The loss of illusions´ trajectory is examined about the capacity of different ideological streams to establish a consolidated and lasting legitimacy over the last 30 years. It is argued that, -in good part-, this theme is based on a mirage and that Ecuador maintains a very strong and rooted institutional structure, but it is unrecognizable and unpresentable for the individuals. An attempt is made to characterize this institutionality “in the shadow” and the causes of its roots and the impossibility of transcending it effectively, with an alternative State model, are explored. Finally, we try to describe the reasons why it maintains its stability in the long historical term and what could be the arenas in which the political struggle for alternatives would be established, as well as their potential ways of becoming viable.