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Authors

Timothy D. Rudy

Abstract

This article briefly discusses the Democratic Charter-its creation, its perhaps murky legal status, and Chapter IV. But I have added new developments that took place after the ASIL meeting which further indicate the Democratic Charter represents an important expression of the progressive development of international law. Democratic government is required for every country in the Western Hemisphere. 8 But the Democratic Charter takes this internal domestic right and establishes it as an external collective right as well. The first article of the Democratic Charter clearly states that it is "[t]he peoples of the Americas [who] have a right to democracy and their governments have an obligation to promote and defend it." Chapter IV of the Democratic Charter is entitled "Strengthening and Preservation of Democratic Institutions." The six articles in that Chapter outline mechanisms to defend democracy . This is the legal section of the Democratic Charter and the focus of this article.

ISSN

0093-0709

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