Read the full essay here.
Populist successions are uncertain. Populists, like democrats, see voting as the only legitimate path to power. Yet populist leaders position themselves as liberators of the nation and the people, and hence above such constraints as term limits or the alternation of power. This article analyzes how Lenín Moreno, the handpicked successor of Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa, unexpectedly broke with his mentor, took over his party, worked to depoliticize the institutions of justice, and championed a new constitutional barrier to Correa’s hopes of permanent reelection. Will Moreno be successful in leading a transition from Correa’s autocratic regime?