Authoritarian Legacies and Democracy in Latin America and Southern Europe

by Katherine Hite, Paola Cesarini

Overview

Authoritarian Legacies and Democracy in Latin America and Southern Europe brings together well-known comparative political scientists to define and explore the effects of authoritarian rule in post-authoritarian regimes in Southern Europe, the Southern Cone, and Brazil. Contributors to this volume use the research of historians, social psychologists, anthropologists, and sociologists to formulate their conceptualizations of legacies. Their analysis is also sensitive to the experiences of those who live with the consequences of authoritarian regimes. Each chapter offers a multi-case comparison either from within Latin America or between Latin America and Southern Europe.

Among the challenges for democracies in Latin America and Southern Europe are weakened political parties, politicized militaries, compromised judiciaries, corrupt police forces, and widespread citizen distrust. Utilizing a historical-sociological methodology that incorporates both the formal-legal and cultural dimensions of legacies, these essayists offer a fruitful examination of the political structures and institutions bequeathed by authoritarian regimes. They look at such core institutions as political parties, executives, legislatures, constitutions, and interest groups as well as symbolic-discursive dimensions related to individual and collective memories, citizenship, public perception, and trust. They also suggest policy directions to eradicate authoritarian legacies from democratic institutions and praxis.

Authoritarian Legacies and Democracy in Latin America and Southern Europe encourages comparativists to consider more systematically the many manifestations of authoritarian legacies as challenges to democracy. This volume will appeal to all students and scholars interested in comparative politics, Latin America, Southern Europe, and democratization.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780268020200
Publisher:	University of Notre Dame Press
Publication date:	03/15/2004
Series:	Kellogg Institute Series on Democracy and Development
Edition description:	1
Pages:	360
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Katherine Hite is assistant professor of political science at Vassar College.

Paola Cesarini is a doctoral candidate in political science at Columbia University.

Contributors: Paola Cesarini, Katherine Hite, Leonardo Morlino, Frances Hagopian, Paloma Aguilar, Felipe Agüero, Anthony H. Pereira, Mark Ungar, and Consuelo Cruz.

Table of Contents

	Foreword	vii
	Acknowledgments	ix
1	Introducing the Concept of Authoritarian Legacies	1
2	Problematizing the Links between Authoritarian Legacies and "Good" Democracy	25
3	Authoritarian Legacies and Market Reforms in Latin America	85
4	Legacies of Injustice in Italy and Argentina	159
5	Historical Memory and Authoritarian Legacies in Processes of Political Change: Spain and Chile	191
6	Authoritarian Legacies: The Military's Role	233
7	The Persistence of the Mano Dura: Authoritarian Legacies and Policing in Brazil and the Southern Cone	263
8	Latin American Citizenship: Civic Microfoundations in Historical Perspective	305
9	Conclusion: Toward an Institutionalist and Cultural Synthesis	323
	Contributors	335
	Index	339

Editorial Reviews

A superb point of entry into the rich and varied scholarship on real-world democracies after transitions from dictatorship. This coherent, well-edited collection has clearly benefited from interaction among different scholars and disciplines over time. It makes a persuasive case that the concept of ‘authoritarian legacies’ can be utilized with analytical rigor, attentive to the symbolic and expressive sides of politics as well as to institutions, interests, policies and power.” —Alexander Wilde, Ford Foundation

“We know that sturdy democratic regimes are not built on prefabricated and interchangeable foundations, yet we understand very little about how local landscapes, particularly the shadow of the past, shape the familiar ideas and institutions of democracy. This book is a valuable contribution to our appreciation of the varied ways in which history, particularly authoritarian political history, molds democratic practice. Elegant case studies from Latin America and Southern Europe yield important lessons not only for regional scholars but for everyone interested in democratization and democracy promotion around the world.” —Lisa Anderson, Columbia University

“This collection documents the hidden impediments to democratizing reforms, and recognizes the inherent limits of democratization in these two areas of the world. Recommended.” —Choice

"The collection contains many interesting findings and arguments." —Political Studies Review

"The work as a whole is interesting and in some ways illustrative. This reviewer has no doubt that historical analysis can help illuminate contemporary realities in all kinds of ways, and the articles in this collection broadly succeed in doing this. ...this edited collection includes some interesting discussion, and successfully illuminates some significant aspects of the behavior of state actors in Brazil and the southern cone of South America, and to a lesser extent elsewhere." —The Americas

From the Publisher

We know that sturdy democratic regime are not built on prefabricated and interchangeable foundations, yet we understand very little about how local landscapes, particularly the shadow of the past, shape the familiar ideas and institutions of democracy. This book is a valuable contribution to our appreciation of the varied ways in which history, particularly authoritarian political history, molds democratic practice. Elegant case studies from Latin America and Southern Europe yield important lessons not only for regional scholars but for everyone interested in democratization and democracy promotion around the world.

Lisa Anderson

This collection documents the hidden impediments to democratizing reforms, and recognizes the inherent limits of democratization in these two areas of the world. Recommended.

Choice