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2009 Outstanding Academic Title, Choice Almost thirty years have passed since Latin America joined democracy’s global “third wave,” and not a single government has reverted to what was once the most common form of authoritarianism: military rule. Behind this laudable record, however, lurk problems that are numerous and deep, ranging from an ominous resurgence of antidemocratic and economically irresponsible populism to the fragility and unreliability of key democratic institutions. A new addition to the Journal of Democracy series, this volume ponders both the successes and the difficulties that color Latin American politics today. The book brings together recent articles from the jour...
This book critiques the conventional definition of a political party and assesses parties' role in contemporary democracies.
In The Roots of Resilience Meredith L. Weiss examines governance from the ground up in the world's two most enduring electoral authoritarian or "hybrid" regimes—Singapore and Malaysia—where politically liberal and authoritarian features blend, evading substantive democracy. Weiss explains that while key attributes of these regimes differ, affecting the scope, character, and balance among national parties and policies, local machines, and personalized linkages, the similarity in the overall patterns in these countries confirms the salience of those dimensions. The Roots of Resilience shows that high levels of authoritarian acculturation, amplifying the political payoffs of what parties and politicians actually provide their constituents, explain why electoral turnover alone is insufficient for real regime change in either state.
This unique collection of multidisciplinary essays explores recent developments in Paraguay over the course of the last thirty years since General Alfredo Stroessner fell from power in 1989. Stroessner's strong authoritarian legacy continues to exert an impact on Paraguay's political culture today, where the conservative Colorado Party continues to dominate much of the political landscape in spite of the country having transitioned into a modern democracy. The essays in Native Peoples, Politics, and Society in Contemporary Paraguay provide new understandings of how Paraguay has become more integrated into the regional economy and societies of Latin America and changed in unexpected ways. The scholarship examines how the political change impacted Paraguayans, especially its indigenous population, and how the country adapted as it emerged from authoritarian traditions. Each contribution is exemplary in the scope and depth of its understanding of Paraguay, especially its indigenous peoples, politics, women's rights, economy, and natural environment.
"This splendid collection by two of our leading political sociologists pioneers new directions in the study of social justice in Latin America. What Justice? Whose Justice? is impassioned scholarship at its best. It brings together detailed studies of rights and institutions, inequality and struggle, citizenship and indigenous politics, war and peace. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in what the so-called triumph of democracy over dictatorship in the region really means today in the lives of the still dispossessed."—Matthew C. Gutmann, author of The Romance of Democracy: Compliant Defiance in Contemporary Mexico "This book offers a stimulating interdisciplinary analysis...
The 2010’s was a critical period in the continuing, established trend of the spread of democracy worldwide: from the Arab Spring countries of Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Yemen to the unfolding turmoil of Myanmar and Ukraine, by way of the upheavals in Burkina Faso, Senegal and Ivory Coast, social mobilisation against autocratic, corrupt, or military regimes has precipitated political transitions that are characteristic of "democratisation." This book examines the state of democratisation theory and practice that reopens and revives the democratic transition debate, exploring the factors that lead to the demise of autocracy, the pathways and processes of change, and the choice for an eventual...
A tour-de-force analysis of the current state of democracy studies as seen through the scholarly legacy of Guillermo O’Donnell. Winner of the CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title of the Choice ACRL The third wave of democratization produced a wealth of enduring social science. Beginning in the 1970s, it prompted scholars to develop important theories on authoritarian breakdowns and transitions to democracy. No one in the field was more influential than Guillermo O’Donnell (1936–2011), whose pathbreaking work shaped the scholarship of generations of social scientists. Reflections on Uneven Democracies honors the legacy of O’Donnell’s research by advancing debates related to his work on...
In Constructing Democratic Governance, Jorge I. Dominguez and Abraham F. Lowenthal bring together a distinguished group of scholars to assess how well democracy has been working in this volatile part of the world. The authors find that serious problems still plague these new democracies. Many of these problems are related to the political institutions, including political parties, the civil service, and the justice system. Part I introduces broad thematic surveys of such key issues as the role of the left, conservatism, inequality, and indigenous peoples. Part II reviews the South American nations. Part III focuses on Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, including Cuba. In Part IV, the volume editors draw conclusions about the problems and prospects for stable democracies in Latin America. In addition to the complete hardcover edition, Constructing Democratic Governance is available in three paperback volumes, each containing the introduction and conclusion from the complete edition and organized for convenient course use.
What determines the capacity of countries to design, approve and implement effective public policies? To address this question, this book builds on the results of case studies of political institutions, policymaking processes, and policy outcomes in eight Latin American countries. The result is a volume that benefits from both micro detail on the intricacies of policymaking in individual countries and a broad cross-country interdisciplinary analysis of policymaking processes in the region.