Democracy and Urban Political Culture in Spanish South America, 1810-1860
“Democracy,” a word seldom used in public debate at the start of the nineteenth century and negatively associated with tumult, disorder, and direct rule, in a few decades became linked to representative government and increasingly employed with positive connotations. This paper argues that these conceptual changes should be explored in their political and social contexts, since the term “democracy” was invoked to (de)legitimate certain political practices and social sectors. Therefore, in exploring this non-linear process in Spanish America, these pages focus on the interactions between the emerging language of democracy and its varied meanings and uses in urban politics. These interactions were part of the factional disputes on how to implement the principle of popular sovereignty. Starting with an overview of selected emerging political practices during the Independence period, the paper then focuses on Lima and Buenos Aires, two regions with contrasting colonial pasts, responses to Spanish crises, and post-independence paths, showing how the concept of democracy could be put to varied uses according to different contexts and political objectives.
RESUMEN
El concepto “democracia,” escasamente utilizado a principios del siglo diecinueve y con referencias negativas asociadas con tumulto, desorden y gobierno directo, en unas pocas décadas fue transformado, siendo vinculado al gobierno representativo y crecientemente empleado con connotaciones positivas. Al explorar este desigual proceso para la América Hispana, estas páginas argumentan que el variado significado del término “democracia” debe ser estudiado atendiendo a los contextos políticos en que era invocado ya que se utilizaba para (des)ligitimar ciertas prácticas políticas y sectores sociales. Comenzando con una reseña general de la emergencia de ciertas prácticas políticas al momento de la Independencia, el trabajo se enfoca en Lima y Buenos Aires, dos regiones con distinto pasado colonial, respuestas a la crisis española, y experiencias post-revolucionarias, mostrando la forma en que el concepto “democracia” fue sujeto de variados usos en diferentes contextos y según distintos objetivos.
