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by Susanne Jonas (Editor), Nancy Stein (Editor), Susanne Jonas (Other)
Recent events throughout Latin America have placed issues of democracy on centerstage. Collected here for the first time are articles that evaluate different models of democracy, challenging the realities and myths of the practice of democracy in various countries throughout the region. This is a provocative and revealing study of the critical issues in the struggle for democracy and current events in the Third World and the United States.
Through the writings of leading Latin American and U.S. scholars, including James Petras, Pablo Gonzalez Casanova, and Max Azicri, the book addresses such important topics as whether Washington's model democracies are truly democratic, and how Guatemala's civilian regime compares to Nicaragua's revolutionary democracy. By covering countries as diverse as Cuba, Argentina, and Guatemala, the collection adds to an understanding of different models of democracy and challenges traditional methodologies used to evaluate them. Several essays put the issue of democratization in the context of economic crisis, resulting in political redefinitions, and the emergence of the new social movements. The book includes a foreword and introduction by the editors, and concludes with a comprehensive index. It will be a useful resource for courses in political science and Latin American history, and an important addition to college, university, and public libraries.Author Biography
SUSANNE JONAS teaches Latin American studies at the University of California at Santa Cruz. She has written extensively on Central America and is currently working on a book on Guatemala, as well as analytical articles concerning recent developments in Central America based on firsthand observation.
NANCY STEIN has researched and written extensively on U.S. policy toward Latin America with a focus on Central America and U.S. military policy. She is a former president and current board member of Global Options, a San Francisco-based research organization.
