Analysts developed the notion of the permanent campaign to describe how presidents and prime ministers employ political marketing techniques in their quest to mobilize public support. To date, most scholarly studies of the phenomenon have focused on its features and consequences in advanced democracies. This study expands the analysis of the permanent campaign by examining its relationship to the rise of an extreme version of the plebiscitary presidency in the Andean region of Latin America. Through an examination of the administration of Rafael Correa in Ecuador, we show how the permanent campaign has been used as part of a strategy to secure the president's stay in office and effect far-reaching constitutional change. In countries where mechanisms of accountability are already weak, we conclude that conjoining of the plebiscitary presidency and the permanent campaign is likely to exacerbate the accountability deficit and generate problematic consequences for democratic political development.

With the election of Rafael Correa in 2006, Ecuador joined the ranks of Latin American countries that have taken the "Left Turn" in national politics. Correa views his presidency as an opportunity to effect profound political change by convoking a constituent assembly to write a new constitution. In the course of campaigning for the constituent assembly, Correa constructed a powerful hyper-plebiscitary presidency—a mode of governance marked by the president’s recurrent appeals to public opinion and special elections that enhances the legitimacy of the executive at the expense of congress. Using the informal and formal powers of his office, Correa was able to govern "over the heads" of existing institutions and greatly debilitate what remained of the political opposition.

Charting the historical paths to democracy has been a long-standing concern of political sociology.1 With the demise of authoritarian rule in Latin America over the last decade, a classic question of the genre has resurfaced: are there certain developmental sequences that are more likely to produce successful transitions to democracy? If there is any conclusion to be drawn from recent experiences, the answer is no. Highly heterogeneous circumstances have produced Latin America's most recent wave of democratisation. From the Caribbean to the Southern Cone, countries at different levels of economic development, with distinctive authoritarian legacies and divergent class structures, all underwent transitions to elected civilian governments in the last decade.

The return of the state in Latin America under the auspices of leftist governments is often equated with an expansion in the state's role as a regulator of the economy and social welfare provider. This article focuses on an equally important dimension of recent state development: the rise of dense societal regulation. Analysing the case of Ecuador under the administration of Rafael Correa (2007-present), the study shows how the design of policies aimed at the media, civil society organizations, and higher education have enlarged the scope of regulation and enhanced the powers of the executive branch. Applying Daniel Brinks' notion of analysing the 'state-as-law', Ecuador stands as example of politicized legalism (estado de derecho politizado). Keywords: regulation, civil society, normativity, state, Ecuador.Resumen: Vigilancia y sanción: El retorno del estado y la regulación societal en el Ecuador El retorno del estado, bajo el auspicio de los gobiernos de izquierda en América Latina, es frecuentemente asimilado con la expansión del rol del estado como regulador de la economía y la provisión de bienestar social. Este artículo trata sobre una dimensión igualmente importante en el desarrollo de esos estados: el ascenso de una densa regulación societal. Analizando el caso ecuatoriano, bajo la administración de Rafael Correa (2007-al presente), este estudio demuestra cómo el diseño de políticas para los medios de comunicación, organizaciones de la sociedad civil y, instituciones de educación superior han ampliado el alcance de la regulación y afianzado los poderes de la función ejecutiva. Aplicando la noción de 'estado-como-ley' de Daniel Brinks, Ecuador se ha convertido en un caso ejemplar de un estado de derecho politizado. Palabras clave: regulación, sociedad civil, normatividad, estado, Ecuador.

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