The (Un)Rule of Law and the Underprivileged in Latin America

by Mendez, Juan E.; O'Donnell, Guillermo A.; Pinheiro, Paulo Sergio De M. S.

• ISBN13: 9780268043018
• ISBN10: 0268043019
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-05-01
• Publisher: Univ of Notre Dame Pr

Summary

This thorough discussion of the idea of "democracies without citizenship" in Latin America considers overcoming political violence and discrimination and analyzes various avenues to institutional judicial reform. The (Un)Rule of Law and the Underprivileged in Latin America, as the fourth part of Project Latin America 2000 from the Helen Kellogg Institute, enlarges the understanding of significant political, economic, and social issues facing Latin America at the threshold of a new century.

The contributors develop arguments around the Latin American system of law which only punishes the poor and marginalized. In addressing lawless violence, the contributors argue that it is no longer the democratic state that directly commits the abuses. Instead, it fails to control arbitrary practices of its own agents and to challenge those who flaunt disregard for the law. The collection demonstrates that it is impossible to separate judicial reform from human rights and argues that justice must be made accessible to the poor and that governments make a serious and compreh

Table of Contents

Preface	VII
Ernest Bartell
Guillermo O'Donnell
The Rule of Law and the Underprivileged in Latin America: Introduction	1	(18)
Paulo Sergio Pinheiro
Part I Problems of Lawless Violence
Problems of Lawless Violence: Introduction	19	(6)
Juan E. Mendez
Torture and Conditions of Detention in Latin America	25	(17)
Nigel S. Rodley
Comments on Rodley	42	(7)
Ligia Bolivar O.
Defining the Role of the Police in Latin America	49	(22)
Paul Chevigny
Comments on Chevigny	71	(16)
Jean-Paul Brodeur
The Rule of Law and the Underprivileged in Latin America: A Rural Perspective	87	(22)
Roger Plant
Part II Overcoming Discrimination
Overcoming Discrimination: Introduction	109	(7)
Rebecca J. Cook
Indigenous Peoples and the Rule of Law in Latin America: Do They Have a Chance?	116	(36)
Jorge Dandler
Comments on Dandler	152	(8)
Shelton H. Davis
Overcoming the Discrimination against Women in Mexico: A Task for Sisyphus	160	(21)
Mariclaire Acosta
Comments on Acosta	181	(5)
Dorothy Q. Thomas
Color and the Rule of Law in Brazil	186	(25)
Peter Fry
Comments on Fry	211	(10)
Joan Dassin
Part III Institutional Reform, Including Access to Justice
Institutional Reform, Including Access to Justice: Introduction	221	(6)
Juan E. Mendez
International Aspects of Current Efforts at Judicial Reform: Undermining Justice in Haiti	227	(16)
Reed Brody
Comments on Brody and a Discussion of International Reform Efforts	243	(12)
Leonardo Franco
Judicial Reforms in Latin America: Good News for the Underprivileged?	255	(23)
Jorge Correa Sutil
Access to Justice for the Poor in Latin America	278	(25)
Alejandro M. Garro
Polyarchies and the (Un)Rule of Law in Latin America: A Partial Conclusion	303	(36)
Guillermo O'Donnell
Appendix	339	(4)
Contributors	343	(4)
Index	347