ABSTRACT
In November 2006, Ecuadoreans chose a president, Rafael Correa, who embodied the regional turn toward a new left politics aimed at reversing the market friendly neoliberalism that had prevailed since the early 1980s. This chapter reviews the historical legacy of Ecuador and focuses on Ecuador's incomplete democratization since 1979. It discusses the fragmentation of the political party system, the rise of vibrant indigenous and other social movements, and the adoption of two new constitutions , the latter strongly nationalist, socially progressive. The chapter focuses on a renewed state role in the economy and society. It looks at Ecuador's debilitating dependency and the limits it places on government policies and at its foreign relations, with particular reference to the United States and Colombia's civil war. As Ecuador's civilian elites equated their narrow private interests with national interests, military governments pursued social reforms in response to pressures from below, and turned the state into a sponsor of economic development.
