Epilogue

Abstract

Almost twenty years have passed since the creation of Mercosur. The aim of this book was to account for its formation and not for its subsequent development. However, the extent to which the foundational values and principles as well as many of the original political and institutional features still hold validity today is striking. This is true in terms of both strengths and limitations. It is also true that in a framework of general continuity there have been significant qualitative changes. Above all, democracy continues to be a driving force and an increasingly stringent criterion for membership to integration schemes, not only in the Mercosur area but in Latin America and the entire Americas. This is confirmation that, once ideas become entrenched in durable institutions, and such is the case of democracy within integration, in the absence of significant change those ideas continue to influence politics and policies.¹