ABSTRACT
THE 1960S AND 1970s were decades of the “breakdown of democracy” in Brazil and the Southern Cone, and the subsequent period was one of harsh bureaucratic authoritarianism and military rule. Th e following period saw transitions to democracy-more specifi cally, polyarchy-as part of a third wave of democratization around the world (see chapter 1, Figure 1.2). In most cases, the transitions were facilitated by pactsthat is, agreements among key actors about rules of the game and policies to be followed in the new democratic era. Although these pacts facilitated the return of control of government to civilians and restored elections, they also limited the ability of the new democracies to hold bureaucratic authoritarian rulers accountable for human rights violations and to make signifi cant changes to the economic model (with signifi cant variation in each respect).
