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The article analyses the right to democracy in the regional Organization of American States. It starts by summarizing the main historical steps that forged the democratic norm in the Americas leading up to the adoption of the Inter-American Democratic Charter in 2001. Arguments will be advanced that strongly support the assumption that the Democratic Charter must be considered as legally binding, in spite of the political character generally attached to resolutions of the General Assembly of the OAS. To elucidate the concept of democracy pursued in the OAS the main part examines measures adopted by organs of the regional organization. Central to this examination are firstly political crises in member states and the reaction of the political organs of the OAS thereto and secondly democracy related cases treated by the Inter-American human rights bodies. The article concludes that democracy in the OAS can only be understood in terms of a distinction between essential and supportive elements of democracy that differ according to the means of their implementation. A short outlook evaluates the usefulness of this norm to democracy for the determination of the democratic legitimacy of other actors in public international law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]