ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes how, beyond ending the war, the peace process contributed significantly to the democratization of Guatemala. It highlights both how the process opened up political space and what gains have been achieved in the content of the accords signed. The chapter analyzes the Guatemalan experience from the early 1980s to the present and uses that experience to address some broad theoretical debates about democratization and social justice in Latin America. It theorizes the experience of Guatemala from the early 1980s to the present and hopefully to enrich the broader debates. The quality of democracy would also be affected by the degree of citizen participation in using democratic institutions to improve their lives. One of the consistently troublesome and unresolved discussions about political democracy is its relation to social justice. Torres Rivas refers to something similar in the concept of "good government," which "seeks a permanent link between political freedom and social justice.".
