Advances and Setback in the Third Wave of Democratization in Latin America

A conference held at the Kellogg Institute
University of Notre Dame
April 23 - 24, 2001

In most of Latin America, until the wave of democratization that began in 1978, authoritarian regimes were pervasive. Democracies in many countries were short-lived. Since 1978 democracy has been more extensive and durable than ever before. Most surprisingly, in many countries democratic and semidemocratic regimes have survived despite poor social and economic performances and despite lengthy authoritarian traditions. Yet at the same time the post-1978 wave of democratization is far from an unqualified success. Democratization is truncated in many countries, and it has experienced serious setbacks in such countries as Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and Venezuela. From a scholarly standpoint, this pattern of advancement and erosion does not conform neatly either to historical patterns, social structure, or economic performance. While Costa Rica's democracy flourishes, Venezuela's has been seriously challenged. Democracies persist in some countries with high levels of inequality and ethnic heterogeneity but not in others. Poor economic performance probably contributed to democratic erosion in Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela, but several other democracies in the region have survived poor economic performance.

This conference attempted to chart and above all explain these unanticipated advances and setbacks. Authors wrote chapters on Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Bolivia as surprising cases of democratic advances and on Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela as cases of democratic setbacks. Each author addressed advances and limits in democratization in a particular country and then analyzed why countries with limited democratic pasts have succeeded in building stable democracies in the current period (or, alternatively, why countries that were widely viewed as stable democracies for decades have now suffered notable democratic erosions). Authors addressed these questions in relation to the past of the county about which they were invited to write and also, if they chose, compared their country of study with others. We plan to publish the contributions in an edited volume.

Funding for the conference was generously provided by The Coca-Cola Company. On April 23 in the evening the second annual Notre Dame Prize for Distinguished Public Service in Latin America was presented, also with support from The Coca-Cola Company.

Click here for Conference Poster.

Click here for Conference Program.

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Conference Papers
The papers presented in this conference have been revised, and will in The Third Wave of Democratization in Latin America, from Cambridge University Press

De La Democracia "Restringida" A La Democracia "Asediada": Para Entender La Crisis De La Democracia En Colombia
Ana María Bejarano & Eduardo Pizarro

The Contrary Case of Venezuela and Theories of Regime Change
Michael Coppedge

The Paradox of Menemism: Parties, Civil Society, and the Relative Success of Argentine Democracy in the 1990s
Steven Levitsky

Transition Games from Single-Party Authoritarianism: The Case of Mexico
Beatriz Magaloni

Advances and Setbacks: Bolivia's Democracy at the Crossroads
René Antonio Mayorga

Democracy on Ice: The Multiple Paradoxes of Guatemala's Peace Process
Mitchell A. Seligson

Perú, 1980-2000 ¿Crónica de una muerte anunciada? Determinismo, voluntarismo, actores y poderes estructurales
Martín Tanaka

The Growing Sustainability of Brazil's Low-Quality Democracy
Kurt Weyland

From Civil War to Political Democracy in El Salvador: Advances and Outstanding Challenges
Elisabeth Jean Wood