Abstract
The current Bolivian President, Evo Morales, has managed to govern longer than all of his predecessors thanks to his three successful attempts to relax his term limits. In this article I argue that the high risk-taking personality of Morales, especially his social risk-taking, helps to explain why he has consistently tried to extend his time in office. To address this proposition I follow a twofold strategy. First, I show the results of a survey conducted among experts in presidents of the Americas. This survey measured different personality traits of the leaders that governed between 1945 and 2012, including their risk-taking. Second, I examine some of the most important decisions that Morales has made throughout his adult life. Both the survey and the analysis of Morales’ trajectory suggest that his attempts to cling to power are rooted in his risk-taking.
Highlights
When Bolivian President Evo Morales took office on January 22 of 2006, he was ineligible to run for a second consecutive term under the 1967 Constitution
“The state has been refounded as a plurinational state and that refounding emerges from a constituent power that has generated a new Political Constitution that contemplates a new order,” stated as an explanation Ruddy Flores, president of the Constitutional Court (El Mundo 2013)
The expert survey showed that Morales is a risk-prone individual, above the mean of all the Bolivian presidents assessed and the mean of all the leaders
Summary
When Bolivian President Evo Morales took office on January 22 of 2006, he was ineligible to run for a second consecutive term under the 1967 Constitution. Presidents who attempt to change the constitution to relax their term limits run important risks. These heads of government cannot fully anticipate the consequences of their attempts because there are many things at stake that they do not control, such as the interests of other state powers and the reaction of the political class, voters and the press. I conclude discussing why Morales has succeeded in his attempts to remain in power and why he is likely to continue succeeding
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