Alexandra Ames: We experience not political polarization, but social polarization, when we begin to hate those who think otherwise

Head of the Public Policy Observatory Pacific UniversityAlexandra Ames clarified that the rating compiled by the magazine Economist where it is stated that Peru has ceased to be “vicious democracy” still “hybrid mode”responds to the political crises that have affected us in recent years. In addition, he mentioned that at present there is more of a social crisis than a political one, as citizens have begun to hate those who think otherwise.

“This is another bad news that we have to comment on. This type of analysis, which aims to quantify this wide range of differences between democracy and authoritarianism, helps countries understand where we are going, where we are going and whether we are keeping ourselves or not in the rule of law. And, unfortunately, in recent years we are faced with political crises and hyperinstability, and especially how shabby we have come from democracy and government over the last year Thus, they lead us to conclude that we have downgraded the rating in this study,” he said in Saturday Focus.

“It is important that we realize that in a democracy there will always be different ideologies that can be opposed and will be different, as long as they do not violate the rule of law, respect for human rights, tolerance and people’s honesty. lines, what we are experiencing today is not a political polarization where there is a clash of ideas at the level of political parties, but social polarization, when we begin to hate those who think differently than we do. When this happens, the fragmentation in the country begins to intensify, deepen, and getting out of there becomes much more difficult, more difficult and more tiring,” he added.

Changing the Constitution

On the other side, ames He commented on the request of a part of the citizens who want to change the Constitution. In this regard, he pointed out that, without entering into a legal debate, it would not be something that would necessarily solve the problems of public administration.

“All Peruvians must recognize that there is social discontent, that there are very strong gaps in social inequality that have been exacerbated by the pandemic, and that they must be closed. But I would like to say that, hopefully, with the change in the Constitution, things are changing. Let’s hope that with the change of the new item, the hospitals will magically appear normally working., schools with adequate infrastructure, teachers trained to teach. And this is not necessarily guaranteed by the Constitution,” he concluded.