Democracies and dictatorships in Latin America : emergence, survival, and fall

This Book Presents A New Theory For Why Political Regimes Emerge, And Why They Subsequently Survive Or Break Down. It Then Analyzes The Emergence, Survival, And Fall Of Democracies And Dictatorships In Latin America Since 1900. Scott Mainwaring And Aníbal Pérez-liñán Argue For A Theoretical Approach Situated Between Long-term Structural And Cultural Explanations And Short-term Explanations That Look At The Decisions Of Specific Leaders. They Focus On The Political Preferences Of Powerful Actors - The Degree To Which They Embrace Democracy As An Intrinsically Desirable End And Their Policy Radicalism - To Explain Regime Outcomes. They Also Demonstrate That Transnational Forces And Influences Are Crucial To Understand Regional Waves Of Democratization. Based On Extensive Research Into The Political Histories Of All Twenty Latin American Countries, This Book Offers The First Extended Analysis Of Regime Emergence, Survival, And Failure For All Of Latin America Over A Long Period Of Time-- 1. Introduction -- 2. A Theory Of Regime Survival And Fall -- 3. Competitive Regimes And Authoritarianism In Latin America -- 4. Regime Survival And Fall: A Quantitative Test -- 5. From Multiple Breakdowns To Stabilization Of Democracy: Argentina -- 6. From Persistent Authoritarianism To Durable Democracy: El Salvador -- 7. International Actors, International Influences, And Regime Outcomes -- 8. Political Regimes After The Third Wave -- 9. Rethinking Theories Of Democratization In Latin America And Beyond -- Appendix 3.1. Coding Rules For Political Regimes -- Appendix 3.2. Coding U.s. Foreign Policy Toward Democracy In Latin America -- Appendix 4.1. Long-run Equilibrium For The Proportion Of Competitive Regimes -- Appendix 5.1. Qualitative Comparative Analysis -- Appendix 6.1. Coding Of Salvadoran Actors, 1979-2010. Scott Mainwaring, University Of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana ; Aníbal Pérez-liñán, University Of Pittsburgh. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. This book presents a new theory for why democracies and dictatorships emerge and then either survive or collapse. Scott Mainwaring and Aníbal Pérez-Liñán analyze the survival of political regimes in Latin America since 1900, arguing for a theory of democratization situated between explanations that emphasize long-term structural preconditions and short-term decisions by specific leaders. This book presents a new theory for why democracies and dictatorships emerge and then either survive or collapse. Scott Mainwaring and Anibal Perez-Linan analyze the survival of political regimes in Latin America since 1900, arguing for a theory of democratization situated between explanations that emphasize long-term structural preconditions and short-term decisions by specific leaders.