ABSTRACT

This chapter provides understanding of governance in South America by examining the tensions between neoliberalization and democracy. It argues that fundamentally unpopular and ultimately unsuccessful reforms were sustained over time through three parallel and complementary processes. The chapter examines the way in which neoliberal reforms were introduced despite their deep unpopularity among the majority of the population acted to undermine democratic norms and practices. It explains the partial transnationalization of governance that effectively took power away from elected governments and debates in the public sphere. The chapter explores various mechanisms adopted to shield governments from democratic pressures. It also explores the demobilization and disincorporation of popular social forces that had been previously incorporated into the political system under populist and developmentalist regimes. The chapter discusses the transnational and domestic dimensions of reform, and focuses on the actors, drivers and mechanisms of neoliberalization involved at each scale.