Authoritarian Legacies and Democracy in Latin America and Southern Europe

“A superb point of entry into the rich and varied scholarship on real-world democracies after transitions from dictatorship. This coherent, well-edited collection has clearly benefited from interaction among different scholars and disciplines over time. It makes a persuasive case that the concept of ‘authoritarian legacies’ can be utilized with analytical rigor, attentive to the symbolic and expressive sides of politics as well as to institutions, interests, policies and power.” —Alexander Wilde, Ford Foundation

“We know that sturdy democratic regimes are not built on prefabricated and interchangeable foundations, yet we understand very little about how local landscapes, particularly the shadow of the past, shape the familiar ideas and institutions of democracy. This book is a valuable contribution to our appreciation of the varied ways in which history, particularly authoritarian political history, molds democratic practice. Elegant case studies from Latin America and Southern Europe yield important lessons not only for regional scholars but for everyone interested in democratization and democracy promotion around the world.” —Lisa Anderson, Columbia University

“This collection documents the hidden impediments to democratizing reforms, and recognizes the inherent limits of democratization in these two areas of the world. Recommended.” —Choice

"The collection contains many interesting findings and arguments." —Political Studies Review

"The work as a whole is interesting and in some ways illustrative. This reviewer has no doubt that historical analysis can help illuminate contemporary realities in all kinds of ways, and the articles in this collection broadly succeed in doing this. ...this edited collection includes some interesting discussion, and successfully illuminates some significant aspects of the behavior of state actors in Brazil and the southern cone of South America, and to a lesser extent elsewhere." —The Americas