Region: Latin America and the Caribbean
July 1994, Volume 5, Issue 3
Latin America’s Critical Elections: Five Scenarios for Mexico
Read the full essay here.
July 1994, Volume 5, Issue 3
Latin America’s Critical Elections: Brazil at an Impasse
Read the full essay here.
January 1994, Volume 5, Issue 1
The Role of Elites
A review of Elites and Democratic Consolidation in Latin America and Southern Europe, edited by John Higley and Richard Gunther.
July 1993, Volume 4, Issue 3
International Organizations & Democracy: The OAS and Democratic Governance
Read the full essay here.
July 1993, Volume 4, Issue 3
International Organizations & Democracy: The OAS—Putting Principles into Practice
Read the full essay here.
January 1993, Volume 4, Issue 1
Confronting the Past: “Never Again” in Argentina
Read the full essay here.
January 1993, Volume 4, Issue 1
The Politics of Economic Crisis in Latin America
Read the full essay here.
January 1992, Volume 3, Issue 1
Old Paradigms & New Openings in Latin America
Read the full essay here.
Fall 1991, Volume 2, Issue 4
Democracy & Foreign Policy
A review of Exporting Democracy: Fulfilling America’s Destiny, by Joshua Muravchik and Exporting Democracy: The United States and Latin America, edited by Abraham F. Lowenthal.
Fall 1990, Volume 1, Issue 4
Paraguay After Stroessner: Democratizing the One-Party State
Read the full essay here.
Fall 1990, Volume 1, Issue 4
Paraguay After Stroessner: One Step Away from Democracy
Read the full essay here.
Summer 1990, Volume 1, Issue 3
Nicaragua’s Choice: The Making of a Free Election
Read the full essay here.
Summer 1990, Volume 1, Issue 3
Nicaragua’s Choice: Old and New Politics in Managua
Read the full essay here.
Summer 1990, Volume 1, Issue 3
Nicaragua’s Choice: Reclaiming the Revolution
Read the full essay here.
Summer 1990, Volume 1, Issue 3
Mexico: Salinas and the PRI at the Crossroads
Read the full essay here.
Summer 1990, Volume 1, Issue 3
Third World Communism in Crisis: Castro’s Last Stand
Read the full essay here.
Spring 1990, Volume 1, Issue 2
Stabilizing Latin Democracy
A review of Democracy in the Americas: Stopping the Pendulum, edited by Robert A. Pastor.
Winter 1990, Volume 1, Issue 1
The Struggle Against Noriega
Over the past several years, the world has come to see the crisis in Panama mainly as a confrontation between the United States and Panama's military strongman, General Manuel Antonio Noriega. But this perception – reinforced lately by press reports on last October's failed coup attempt – is badly mistaken.
Winter 1990, Volume 1, Issue 1
Managing the Military
A review of Rethinking Military Politics: Brazil and the Southern Cone, by Alfred Stepan.
How Dictators Use Financial Repression Against Their Opponents
Economic freedom is one of a tyrant’s first targets. My family and I have experienced this firsthand. But tools like Bitcoin offer a lifeline for activists fighting repressive states.
Cómo los dictadores usan la represión financiera contra sus oponentes
Coartar la libertad económica es uno de los primeros objetivos de un tirano. Mi familia y yo hemos experimentado esto de primera mano. Sin embargo, herramientas como Bitcoin ofrecen una esperanza a los activistas que luchan contra los estados represivos.
Maduro Rules Through Repression
The strongman lost in a landslide, and the Venezuelan people are paying the price.
Who Is the Real Javier Milei?
He is rude, foul-mouthed, and one of the most popular politicians in the world. Like it or not, Argentina’s chainsaw-wielding president is the new face of populism.
El desastre democrático de México
El presidente saliente del país está determinado a arrasar con el sistema judicial mexicano. Su ataque al Estado de Derecho es aún más preocupante de lo que se piensa.
Mexico’s Democratic Disaster
The country’s outgoing president is determined to bulldoze Mexico’s judicial system. His attack on the rule of law is even worse than most people realize.
Maduro Can Only Rule Through Fear and Terror
The Venezuelan strongman lost the election and everyone knows it. He has nothing left to offer but violence and repression. It will be his undoing.
Is This the Beginning of Maduro’s End?
The Venezuelan strongman is attempting to steal the country’s presidential election and daring the people to stop him. But even if military leaders are backing him, Maduro is already weaker than he appears.
Why This Time Is Different for Venezuela
For years, the Venezuelan opposition has fought hard against a corrupt regime — and come up short. But this time, with four key ingredients in place, we are on the cusp of a historic victory.
Can Bolivia Ever Escape the Coup Trap?
The South American country was once the most coup-prone in the world. Many thought it had closed that chapter. So why did it just suffer another attempted coup?
Can Claudia Sheinbaum Emerge from AMLO’s Shadow?
She was just elected Mexico’s first woman president in a landslide. The future of Mexico’s democracy rests on whether she can break from her predecessor’s ways and carve her own democratic path.
Can Mexico’s Next President Control the Military?
The country’s military brass has a larger role governing Mexico than at any time in the past eighty years. It’s creating a dangerous dependency that won’t be easy to break. Can the generals be reined in?
How the World’s Most Popular Dictator Wins
El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele may be overwhelmingly popular, but he wasn’t going to let his electoral ambitions hinge on being well-liked. Instead, he rigged the playing field before the first vote was cast.
Why Did Argentina Just Elect a Radical Right-Wing Political Outsider?
By choosing Javier Milei, Argentinian voters didn’t just reject the status quo. They have sent their country hurtling in an unknown direction.
How Guatemalans Are Defending Their Democracy
They are organized, nonviolent, and they have come out in great numbers. Guatemalans may also be writing the script on how to defeat democracy’s enemies.
A Shock to Guatemala’s System
Almost no one thought that an underdog political reformer could defeat Guatemala’s corrupt political machine, but Bernardo Arévalo did just that. Now comes the hard part.
Ecuador’s Democratic Breakdown
The small Latin American country was a brief democratic bright spot. But it appears to have fallen victim to a clash between populists and anti-populists, without a democrat in sight.
How Maduro Survived
The Venezuelan dictator defied sanctions, international isolation, and massive protests. He appears to have a firmer footing than he’s had in years. Now what?
The Curse of the Ex-Presidents
Across Latin America, former leaders are keeping a chokehold on their countries’ politics. It’s time their successors break free.
Poverty, Inequality, and Democracy
This book addresses such broad issues as whether democracy promotes inequality, the socioeconomic factors that drive democratic failure, and the basic choices that societies must make as they decide how to deal with inequality.
Political Parties and Democracy
Political parties are one of the core institutions of democracy. But in democracies around the world, there is growing evidence of low or declining public confidence in parties. But are they in decline, or are they simply changing their forms and functions?
Emerging Market Democracies: East Asia and Latin America
"Emerging Market Democracies provides useful insights into topics that connect market economies to various nations' politics, especially efforts at democratization, and compares and contrasts two important regions of the world in their quests for modernization."—John F. Copper, Asian Affairs
Electoral Systems and Democracy
This book compares the experiences of diverse countries, from Latin America to southern Africa, from Uruguay, Japan, and Taiwan to Israel, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
How People View Democracy
No serious student of democracy can afford to be without this book. It offers an original and comprehensive view of what citizens around the world think as democracy's global "third wave" prepares to enter its fourth and perhaps most challenging decade.