ABSTRACT
In Wiarda's formulation: The Spanish (and Portuguese) colonial system, exploitative and authoritarian, had provided absolutely no training in self-government and certainly none in democracy. One of the most pressing and, as it proved, enduring problems Latin American nations faced in their first decades of independence was how to establish the legitimacy of their new governments. Impelled by a deeply felt need to break with the colonial era and not follow the path being taken by their ex-rulers, they generally turned to the US republican model without seriously questioning its appropriateness. In many ways Brazil experienced an exceptionally easy separation from its mother country, involving a period in which Portugal's government was transferred to Rio de Janeiro, and once this transitional period was over, the heir to the Portuguese throne remained as prince regent. Both in gaining independence and in filling the legitimacy vacuum that ensued, Brazil's experience differed markedly from that of all parts of Spanish America.
