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...the course of the year, but think we have had something like thirteen presidential and head of government elections. And when you count legislative elections or parliamentary elections, I believe that number bumps up to sixteen. I think the last election, in Saint Lucia, is taking place this week.
So we are closing a cycle which is really amazing. Nearly half of the democracies in the region have had some kind of important election. And as we begin the new year, we're going to be looking across a hemisphere with a new and distinct leadership structure, and this, offers us a great opportunity to engage afresh with new governments and new legislatures and to carry on work which is vitally important for the United States but also vitally important for the Americas.
I thought I would discuss three themes today. First, to take a look at the elections, how we view them, how we see the outcomes, and then talk about what we think it means for us. As I just indicated, what I think it means for us is that we have a great opportunity to engage with new governments and reengage with partners that we've already been working with to advance not only our agenda as the United States in the region, but also an agenda that is a common one, and largely shared by the 34 democracies in the Western Hemisphere.
I want to close by talking about the spirit of pan-Americanism and seeing if we can interpret and understand not only events in the hemisphere but also our engagement in the hemisphere as a way to reinforce a spirit of pan-Americanism that I think is absolutely essential to the future and the well-being of the hemisphere. In regard to 2006 there are profound expectations about what democracy can deliver. An abiding belief that for democracy to be successful it has to have social content. In other words, democratic government has to deliver the goods. It has to show that it is capable of facing up to the social agenda that this region faces, especially in terms of battling poverty, battling inequality and batting social exclusion. I think to a certain extent what we have seen in the region is a race to the electorate by leaders and by political parties, and the winners in each of these elections are those politicians who get to the electorate first. It is no coincidence...
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