ABSTRACT
This chapter describes a vast exploration of the origins, development, and current state of the political right and conservative movements in ten countries in the Americas. The subtle, everyday presence of this conservative force pushing all countries in the Americas in the right-wing direction must be incorporated, we believe, to a more comprehensive understanding of domestic politics. The rebirth of democracy experienced across most Latin American countries by the end of the twentieth century offered the right a new opportunity to be electorally competitive. The political right has been able to present an alternative vision that, be it momentarily, is given credibility by the voters or other actors holding political power and is thus able to form governments and/or dominate the political conversation. Recent right-wing populism experiences, such as Bolsonaro's Brazil and Trump's United States, sit somewhere in between these extremes.
