ABSTRACT
Latin American studies in the United States have long been preoccupied with the presumed quest of the Latin American nations for democracy. So long as the United States remained a minor power, fervor for democratic rule was largely confined to moral suasion and righteous injunctions. Everywhere in Latin America democracy seems to be dead, dying, or under siege. Twelve of the twenty republics presently governed by military regimes, and in five of the remaining countries the military is so close to the surface of power as to make the civil/military distinction nearly meaningless. The fact is that those who look on Latin America exclusively through the ethnocentric perspective of the US experience, or those who use "democracy" as a smokescreen to disguise less glorious pursuits, deserve all the lumps and condemnation given. It is true that for a long time the "pathology of democracy" approach dominated much academic thinking on Latin America.
