How Chile, once South America's most stable democracy, gave way to a culture of fear. The authors explain and illuminate the rift in Chilean society that widened dramatically during the Pinochet era.

The fate of democratic governments throughout the world is a topic of growing concern. The crises of modern history, from the Machtergreifung by Hitler through the downfall of democracies. In a systematic review of the political experiences of Latin American and European democratic nations, these original, thought-provoking books propose a significant new comparative framework for understanding the dynamics of political change and the conditions necessary for democratic stability.

This is the third of four volumes compiled in honor of Juan J. Linz and edited by H. E. Chehabi, Richard Gunther, Alfred Stepan, and Arturo Valenzuela. Each volume presents original research and theoretical essays by Linz's distinguished collaborators, students, teachers, and friends, as well as overviews of his enormous contributions to Spanish and Latin American studies, comparative politics, and sociology.In Volume III, leading Latin American scholars evaluate Juan Linz's contribution to the study of Latin American politics, in particular his influence on studies dealing with...

Citizens of the United States, heirs to two centuries of democratic government, tend to believe that presidentialism - rather than parliamentarism - is the political system that best ensures a stable democracy. In Latin America, however, where many governments have been modelled on that of the United States, presidentialism has had mixed success. In The Failure of Presidential Democracy, Juan Linz and Arturo Valenzuela bring together leading scholars to examine the question of whether presidentialism or parliamentarism offers the best hope for stable government and democratic continuity.