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Top1. Introduction: The Ecuadorian Electoral Context
Ecuador's democracy has been one of the most unstable systems in the world due to the lack of “a strong support group” (Sánchez, 2008, p. 233) to the democratic model, among other circumstances. From 1996 to 2006, for example, all the elected presidents had to terminate their terms abruptly (Tibocha and Jaramillo, 2008). However, with the electoral victory of Rafael Correa in 2006, the Andean Republic has initiated a new process in which the economic, cultural, social and legislative bases are being examined, as described by Hawkins (2011); Becker (2012, 2013); Polga (2013); Arevalo (2014); and Barredo, Silva and Martens (2015), among others. Rafael Correa, unlike other presidents, has managed to extend his term for at least eight years by adopting a style that Levitsky and Loxton (2013, p. 107) named as “competitive authoritarianism”. But the truth is that, according to Latinobarometro (2013, p. 7), Ecuador is the second country in Latin America where the support for democracy further increased - 13 percentage points-, between 1995 and 2013. On the other hand, the same source notes that, in 2013, support for authoritarianism still reached 13% of the population, compared to 18% in 1996 (p. 10).
The Ecuadorian electoral context, along with the customization of the Citizen Revolution (Revolución ciudadana in Spanish) lead by President Rafael Correa1, has particular characteristics. First, voting is compulsory for people over 18 years of age -in accordance with Article 62.1 of the 2008 Constitution-, but it is “optional” for people aged between 16 and 17 years -in accordance with Article 62.2 of the same- (Constituent Assembly, 2008, p. 45). This feature encourages a high participation in the presidential elections, estimated at about 70% of the population (Freidenberg, 2013b, p. 81), a percentage that contrasts with the low levels of social participation observed in overall politics (Col. and Mier, 2011) and media (Ayala and Calvache, 2009). Second, unlike other neighboring countries, the Executive Branch, Legislative Branch, Judicial Branch and Citizen Participation Branch are complemented by the Electoral Branch, established by the Article 217 of the Constitution (Constituent Assembly, 2008, p. 71), and regulated by the Organic law on elections [LOE in Spanish] enacted in 2009. Said law establishes criteria of quality and transparency in the electoral routines (art. 6), the regulation of “political rights” (art. 14) and, among others, the appointment of institutions -the National Electoral Council and the Electoral Dispute Settlement Court- as guarantors of the principles contained in the legislation (art. 18). The approval of the LOE brought many changes regarding the transparency of parties, the candidates’ selection process, as well as the “depoliticization of the Electoral Power” (Freidenberg, 2011, p. 42), to name a few.