AHC: Autocratic North America, Democratic South America

[SavoyTruffle]

In OTL the United States became a by-word for democratic, republican government, while Central and South America were the source of the term "banana republic" by virtue of dictatorships that arose in the region, ironically due to American interference in some cases.

So with a POD no earlier than 1750, what set of circumstances would allow for South America to be the beacon of liberal democracy, and for everything north of, say, the Isthmus of Panama, to be renowned for dictatorships?

 

[Xnyrax]

If you can keep Gran Columbia together, and actually have it properly integrate the outer parts of the confederation (i.e. Ecuador and Venezuela), then you could turn it into a paragon of democracy. Meanwhile, if you can keep the awful civil wars of the 19th Century from affecting Argentina, then you can keep it as a strong democratic nation too. Brazil, ironically, I would argue requires the continuation of the monarchy. For the US, that's easy, just have a coup at some point; it's much easier to have a nation collapse into autocracy and dictatorship than have it actually build a functioning democracy or republic.

 

[Deleted member 97083]

In North America, the US pursues the All Mexico Plan, leading to slaveowner dominance in politics, and also earlier militarization during the expensive occupation. That would provide oligarchy, which can become autocracy over time.

Even if Mexico rebels later or is granted independence in the ACW, the US would still see long term changes negatively.

 

[Jiraiyathegallant]

Can North America be any type of Autocratic regime or does it have to be a dictatorship? And can it be a liberal autocratic regime with rule of law?

 

[Rath]

Perhaps have a very early succesful secession war in the early US, fracturing the union into smaller states?

 

[Moosemac]

Can North America be any type of Autocratic regime or does it have to be a dictatorship? And can it be a liberal autocratic regime with rule of law?

Good question. It would be a lot more plausible to have the US as an sort of Oligarchic Republic than an absolute Dictatorship.

 

[Kumarbi]

An interesting way to have this happen woulds be to have the Civil War go on longer and result in more death and destruction in the North as well. You could even have a Southern resistance last long after the fall of the Confederacy, forcing the Union to be even more authoritarian in its suppression in the South. We could see a type of military dictatorship develop by the early 1870s.

 

[SlyDessertFox]

Something like Disaster at Leuthen might provide a nice blueprint.

 

[Indicus]

An interesting way to have this happen woulds be to have the Civil War go on longer and result in more death and destruction in the North as well. You could even have a Southern resistance last long after the fall of the Confederacy, forcing the Union to be even more authoritarian in its suppression in the South. We could see a type of military dictatorship develop by the early 1870s.

The US was already reformed by that point, so it wouldn't become a straight-up dictatorship with such a late POD. Get a POD avoiding the Jacksonian reforms, and then it's quite possible that the US remains a gentry-led republic.

 

[Deleted member 97083]

The US was already reformed by that point, so it wouldn't become a straight-up dictatorship with such a late POD.

It still could during something like the Great Depression.

 

[raharris1973]

It still could during something like the Great Depression.

I don't know, David T once made a pretty strong point that the most likely alternative to the New Deal is much more ideologically boring than we think, and extremist ideological -isms likely are not in the cards.