Democratic Distinction in America

Making Waves: Democratic Contention in Europe and Latin America

Political regime changes and conflicts over such transitions often occur in clusters and advance like waves. As one country transforms its constitutional framework, discontented actors in other countries take inspiration from this precedent and start to undertake similar efforts. The frontrunner's success encourages them to challenge their own rulers and push for transforming the way in which p...

The Catholic Church, Sex and Sexuality in Latin America: Beyond the Public/Private Distinction

Micro-social and Contextual Sources of Democratic Attitudes in Latin America

Many Latin American countries democratized between 1975 and 2000, and research has confirmed that contemporary Latin Americans hold democratic political attitudes. Using AmericasBarometer surveys of 18 countries from 2008, we examine the commitment of Latin Americans to three democratic attitudes – preference for democracy over other forms of government, support for general participation rights...

Democratic Decentralisation in the Forestry Sector: Lessons Learned from Africa, Asia and Latin America

Acknowledgements: This synthesis would not have been possible without being able to draw on the excellent work of numerous researchers and other professionals from around the world, as well as on conversations with many of them. I particularly want to thank and Lini Wollenberg, as well as all of the participants of the Bellagio Workshop on Decentralization and the Environment, all of whom have ...

Toward A Model of Democratic Stability: Political Culture in Central America

At a recent conference on democratization, one of the Latin Americanists present was overheard saying, "been there, done that." Such comments reflect the views of many Latin Americanists, who, having experienced prior waves of democratization, are perhaps justifiably skeptical about the durability of the current wave. Rather than speaking of long-term trends, we are used to looking at waves of ...