ABSTRACT
For a long time Latin America was organized on the basis of a rigid, fundamentally two-class, quasi-feudal social structure. This two-class system was long viewed as immutable and God-given; the system went on unchanged for centuries because to rebel against it was to violate God's "natural order" and risk eternal damnation. A large middle class and a more pluralist society are widely thought of as part of the essential foundations for successful democracy. To the extent that Latin America has a strong middle class and a pluralist society, its possibilities for democracy are enhanced. The chapter looks at the major social groups in Latin America—the elites, the middle class, industrial workers, the peasantry, the lumpen proletariat, women's groups, and indigenous groups. It examines the social background and attitudes of these groups. Social change has also altered the nature of Latin America's corporatism and fundamentally transformed the structure of state-society relations.
