ABSTRACT
During a time of economic crisis and adjustment, many Latin American countries transitioned from authoritarian regimes to democratic regimes in the 1980s. This was not the first experience with democracy in the region. Since their independence in the 1820s, many Latin American countries “were in the vanguard of international liberalism when they repudiated monarchism, aristocracy and slavery in the past [nineteenth] century, and at least in theory their governments have long rested on the principle of popular sovereignty” (White-head 1992, 147), although elections consisted of limited competition among elites. The reality was one of mostly oligarchic or co-optative democracies (Skidmore and Smith 1997, 62), which struggled with the negative colonial inheritances of “a hierarchical society based on class and race, and an economy featuring highly unequal distribution of land and wealth” (Handelman 1997, 26). The evolution of Latin American democracies is unique compared to other regions due to four factors: relatively stable borders, pacted democratization, poorly functioning and long-established market economies, and deep inequalities (Whitehead 1992, 157–58). During the twentieth century, Latin American regimes veered from experiments of expanding suffrage to periods of authoritarian rule. By the early 1980s, most of the authoritarian regimes were liberalizing and becoming more democratic. These “new” democracies continue to face fundamental challenges of creating stable and functional democracies, increasing participation, and providing economic opportunities for their citizens. After discussing the general trends of transitions to democracy and democratic consolidation in this chapter, the focus will change to assessing the broad performance and qualities of these new democracies.
