Civil Society And Democracy in Latin America

by Feinberg, Richard; Waisman, Carlos H.; Zamosc, Leon

• ISBN13: 9781403972286
• ISBN10: 1403972281
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-04-03
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

A dense web of private associations drawn from multiple social classes, interest groups and value communities makes for a firm foundation for strong democracy. In Latin America today, will civil society improve the quality of democracy - or will it foster political polarization and reverse recent progress? Distinguished theorists from the United States, Canada and Latin America explore the diverse impact of civil society on economic performance, political parties, and state institutions. In-depth and up-to-date country studies explore the consequences of civil society for the durability of democracy in three highly dynamic, controversial settings: Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela.

Author Biography

Richard Feinberg is professor of international political economy at the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, University of California, San Diego. Carlos H. Waisman is Professor of Sociology at the University of California, San Diego. Leon Zamosc is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of California, San Diego.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Civil Society and Democracy: The Latin American Case	1	(16)
Carlos H. Waisman
Richard Feinberg
Leon Zamosc
Part I Theoretical and Comparative Perspectives
Autonomy, Self-Regulation, and Democracy: Tocquevillean-Gellnerian Perspectives on Civil Society and the Bifurcated State in Latin America	17	(18)
Carlos H. Waisman
Civil Society in Latin America in the Twenty-First Century: Between Democratic Deepening, Social Fragmentation, and State Crisis	35	(24)
Leonardo Avritzer
Conceptualizing Civil Society from the Bottom Up: A Political Economy Perspective	59	(28)
Philip Oxhorn
Part II Country Case Studies
Citizenship and Civil Society in Renascent Argentina	87	(34)
Isidoro Cheresky
Argentina after the Nineties: Changes in Social Structure and Political Behavior	121	(18)
Manuel Mora
Araujo
Sem Reforma Agraria, Nao Ha Democracia: Deepening Democracy and the Struggle for Agrarian Reform in Brazil	139	(30)
Wendy Wolford
Civil Society and Political Decay in Venezuela	169	(24)
Daniel H. Levine
Index	193