Understanding the use of recall referendums: Evidence from Ecuador

Published date01 June 2020
DOI10.1177/0192512119830373
Date01 June 2020
Subject MatterArticles
https://doi.org/10.1177/0192512119830373
International Political Science Review
2020, Vol. 41(3) 335 –348
© The Author(s) 2019
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DOI: 10.1177/0192512119830373
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Understanding the use of recall
referendums: Evidence from
Ecuador
Yanina Welp
University of Zurich, Switzerland
Ana Sofía Castellanos
Portland State University, USA
Abstract
The recall referendum – a referendum triggered by citizens seeking to remove elected officials by means of
a binding vote – used to be a rare institution, but since the 1990s has spread in different areas of the world.
The frequency of its activation has been explained by three sets of sometimes interconnected variables:
growing citizen dissatisfaction, institutional design (i.e. ease of activation), and the activity of political parties
using the mechanism against their opponents, specially in contexts of low party-system institutionalization.
This article proposes an additional variable: the role of electoral management bodies (EMBs) in allowing
or preventing recall attempts. The empirical analysis focuses on the Ecuadorian experience, where legal
provisions governing recall were introduced in 1998, modified in 2008, and amended in 2011, with a dramatic
variation in the frequency of recall activations after each change.
Keywords
Recall referendum, accountability, institutions, party competition, institutional designs, electoral
management bodies, direct democracy
Introduction
The recall referendum – a procedure to remove an elected representative from office through a
direct vote before his or her official term has ended – used to be a rare institution, existing in only
a few countries in the world. However, after the fall of the Berlin wall and the restoration of democ-
racy in Latin America, many countries have legislated to introduce it.1 The introduction goes hand
in hand with a growing number of activations (e.g. Lima and Warsaw in 2013, Bogota in 2014,
Corresponding author:
Yanina Welp, Center for Democracy Studies, University of Zurich, Kuttigestrasse 21, Aarau, 5000, Switzerland.
Email: yanina.welp@zda.uzh.ch
830373IPS0010.1177/0192512119830373International Political Science ReviewWelp and Castellanos
research-article2019
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