ABSTRACT
NOT LONG AGO, an introduction to Latin American politics could not really have taken democracy as the central theme. A student new to the study of politics in Latin America probably would have read an account that more closely fit the stereotype of an incubator of military coups, firebrand revolutionary movements, hopelessly poor peasants and urban slum dwellers, and mercurial dictators. But as the first decade of the twenty-first century drew to a close, political scientists, journalists, and policy makers seemed convinced that Latin Americans were finally, after nearly 200 years of political independence, on track to enter a new era of stability, economic development, and democracy. Among the positive signs, they could point to the rising percentage of Latin Americans expressing confidence in democracy in surveys. An annual poll of more than 20,000 Latin Americans in 18 countries found that 59% agreed that “democracy is preferable to any other form of government” (Latinobarómetro 2009).
