Elites and Democratic Consolidation in Latin America and Southern Europe

Examine recent transitions to democracy and the prospects for democratic stability in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Portugal, Spain and Uruguay.

John Higley (Edited by), Richard Gunther (Edited by)

9780521424226, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 29 November 1991

372 pages, 2 b/w illus. 4 tables
22.9 x 15.3 x 1.8 cm, 0.486 kg

' … An excellent volume, discussing important problems over a wide range of countries with intelligence and style.' Edward Malefakis, Columbia University

A distinguished group of scholars examine recent transitions to democracy and the prospects for democratic stability in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Portugal, Spain and Uruguay. They also assess the role of elites in the longer-established democratic regimes in Columbia, Costa Rica, Italy, Mexico and Venezuela. The authors conclude that in independent states with long records of political instability and authoritarian rule, democratic consolidation requires the achievement of elite 'consensual unity' - that is, agreement among all politically important elites on the worth of existing democratic institutions and respect for democratic rules-of-the-game, coupled with increased 'structural integration' among those elites. Two processes by which consensual unity can be established are explored - elite settlement, the negotiating of compromises on basic disagreements, and elite convergence, a more subtle series of tactical decisions by rival elites which have cumulative effect, over perhaps a generation.

Preface
1. Introduction: Elite transformations and democratic regimes Michael Burton, Richard Gunther and John Higley
2. Spain: the very model of the modern elite settlement Richard Gunther
3. Elite settlements and democratic consolidation: Colombia, Costa Rica and Venezuela John A. Peeler
4. Mexico's elite settlement: conjuncture and consequences Alan Knight
5. Elite unification and democratic consolidation in Italy: an historical overview Maurizio Cotta
6. The role of civil-military pacts in elite settlements and elite convergences: democratic consolidation in Uruguay Charles Guy Gillespie
7. Patterns of elite negotiation and confrontation in Argentina and Chile Marcelo Cavarozzi
8. Elites in an unconsolidated democracy: Peru during the 1980s Henry Hietz
9. Brazil's political transition Thomas Bruneau
10. Redefining the Portuguese transition to democracy Lawrence S. Graham
11. The Dominican case Peter Sanchez
12. Elites and democratic consolidation in Latin America and Southern Europe: an overview Michael Burton, Richard Gunther and John Higley.

Subject Areas: Political structures: democracy [JPHV]