AUTHORITARIANISM AND DEMOCRACY

READINGS MLA, chs 4, 13 (Central America and “Dynamics of Political Transformation”) MLA Website, Documents 10 (Rigoberta Menchú) and 15 (Fidel Castro)

OUTLINE 1. Concepts: democracy and authoritarianism 2. Electoral variations 3. Transitions, To and Fro 4. Caveats

KEY QUESTIONS What explains the spread of democracy in Latin America? Given authoritarian past? What kind of democracy? What quality? What’s new about the current phase of democratic change? How does it compare to prior periods? What role (if any) for the United States? What implications for U.S. relations with Latin America?

DEFINING PRINCIPLES Participation, such that no substantial segment of the population is excluded from the effective pursuit of political power Competition, such that there are free, fair, and regular contests for gaining support from the populace Accountability, such that political rulers and elected representatives serve as “agents” of their constituents and must justify their actions and decisions in order to remain in office.

CATEGORIES OF ELECTORAL REGIMES Electoral democracy = free and fair elections Semidemocracy = elections free but not fair; or, effective power not vested in winner of elections Competitive oligarchy = elections fair but not free; candidates restricted to socio-economic elite and suffrage restricted to minority of population Autocracy/authoritarianism = no elections, or elections neither free not fair.

CODING PROCEDURES 19 países de la región (excluding Cuba) 1900-2000 (101 years) Example: Argentina 1900-1915 oligarchic 1916-1929 democratic 1930-1931 nondemocratic 1932-1942 semidemocratic 1943-1945 nondemocratic 1946-1950 democratic 1951-1954 semidemocratic 1955-1957 nondemocratic 1958-1961 semidemocratic 1962 nondemocratic 1963-1965 semidemocratic 1966-1972 nondemocratic 1973-1975 democratic 1976-1982 nondemocratic 1983-2000 democratic

Types of Authoritarian Regime ________________Power Structure___________________ Personalist Institutionalized Leadership ____________ Traditional Caudillo or Collective Junta or Military “Man on Horseback” Bureaucratic-Authoritarian Regime Technocratic State, One-Party State or Civilian Delegative Semi-Democracy, Corporatist Regime or Sultanistic Despotism

Outcomes of Political Transitions, 1900-2000 1900-1939 1940-1977 1978-2000 1900-2000 ___ %___ ___%____ ___ %___ ___%____ Outcome____ Autocracy 45 47 17 39 Oligarchy 36 6 -- 15 Semidemocracy 11 20 40 22 Democracy 9 27 43 24 N transitions 56 64 35 155

Caveats “A weak state is a weak democracy” Taming of democracy vs. incompetent governance Democracy by permission And then: the rise of the “new left”