The State of Democracy in Latin America : Post-Transitional Conflicts in Argentina and Chile

ISBN-13: 9780415348119 / Angielski / Twarda / 2004 / 256 str.

Laura Tedesco; Jonathan R. Barton

Opis

The book presents a critical analysis of the contemporary democratic state in Latin America. Following the repressive years of authoritarianism and the economic hardships of the debt crisis, much hope was vested in the democratic transitions of the 1980s and 1990s. However, democracy has not resolved the inherent problems of the Latin American state. This is due to the fact that the underlying features of the contemporary state remain associated with values, social relations and institutional forms that reflect the interests of elite social groups and are closely linked to bureaucratic authoritarianism, particularly in the Southern Cone countries of the continent: Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay. In a shift away from the more typical analyses of Latin American political change during the 1990s, this book presents a more state-centric perspective that seeks to explain why transitions to democracy and trends towards better governance have failed to provide more political and social stability in the continent. Through a deeper analysis of underlying social relations and values and how these manifest themselves through institutions, the state is understood not purely as an institu

Spis treści

1. Conceptualising the State 2. Perspectives on the Latin American State 3. The Unfolding of Argentina's Political Collapse and Social Decay 4. In Search of the Post-transitional Chilean State 5. Reflections on the Contemporary Latin American State

O autorze

Laura Tedesco is a political scientist who specialises in state reform, democratisation, the political class, and the economics and politics of contemporary Latin America. Her previous publications include Democracy in Argentina. Hope and Disillusion (London: Frank Cass, 1999) and several articles on contemporary politics in Latin America. She teaches politics at the School of Development Studies, University of East Anglia. Jonathan R. Barton is a Lecturer in the School of Development Studies, University of East Anglia, UK. He works on both issues of Latin American political economy as well as environmental politics and policy. He has written the book A Political Geography of Latin America (Routledge, 1997) as well as articles and book chapters on the Chilean transition.