ABSTRACT
Honduras would appear to be an unlikely candidate for democracy. It is one of the three poorest, least-developed countries in the Americas. Honduras is a very mountainous country of 5.9 million people, about the size of Pennsylvania. Warring political bosses fought over the spoils of office rather than national policy. They promoted a clientelistic political tradition in which constitutional or electoral rules regularly were violated. The Honduran military's more accommodating stance encouraged popular sector organizations to keep pressing their demands within established political channels. The traditional Liberal and National parties are both nonprogrammatic, patron-client political machines primarily organized to capture state jobs and resources. The interest of the US government in Honduras declined dramatically after the end of the Central American civil wars. The Honduran governmental system is highly centralized, with power concentrated in the presidency. The performance of elected democratic governments has fallen far short of public expectations.
