ABSTRACT
The uneven rule of law – a key aspect of intermediate state apparatuses – has implications for developmental outcomes and the quality of democratic regimes in Latin America. This concluding chapter reviews five ways in which intermediate state apparatuses struggle to uphold the rule of law: (1) subnational variation in effectiveness and enforcement of the law; (2) privileging the legal rights of investors over citizens affected by extractive industries; (3) reliance on informality for social reproduction; (4) the spread of armed non-state actors where the state lacks presence; and, finally, (5) patterns of democratic delinquency, republican corruption, and other practices that undermine the quality of democracy.
