Democracy and Economic Development in Latin America in the 1990s

In: Contemporary politics, Band 6, Heft 3, S. 289-296

Abstract

A review essay on books by (1) Julia Buxton & Nicola Phillips, (Eds) Developments in Latin American Political Economy. States, Markets and Actors (Manchester U Press, Manchester, 1999); (2) Geraldine Lievesley, Democracy in Latin America. Mobilization, Power and the Search for a New Politics (Manchester U Press, Manchester, 1999); & (3) Jorge I. Dominguez & Alejandro Poire, (Eds) Toward Mexico's Democratization. Parties, Campaigns, Elections, and Public Opinion (Routledge, New York & London, 1999). While flagrantly authoritarian rule has abated in Latin America, it has often been replaced by semidemocratic regimes in which the national leader relies on authoritarian tactics & democratic institutions are bypassed or downgraded. In these regimes, there has been movement away from fully participatory democracy, equality, & state accountability, accompanied by the erosion of judicial & civil rights. The result has been a vicious cycle of inegalitarian policies, growing poverty, & social problems. Local class structures are strongly linked to Latin America's subordinate integration into the world economy. This means that it will be difficult to achieve anything more than nominally procedural democracies. Attempts to create more participatory forms of democracy, via working-class or peasant-led revolution, have failed thus far. Three key, interlinked aspects are important in understanding the limitations of Latin America's democratization: (A) the marketization & privatization of previously statist economies; (B) the institutional question of the role of the national leader; & (C) the degree of social polarization. A. Funderburg