South America

Importance

economic• Major trading partner• Important raw materials

– Silver, gold, petroleum, biological resources, coffee, bananas, guano, copper, gas, sugar, soy, iron ore, semi-precious gems

• US investment• Acceleration of growth• US Hispanic population

political• Revolutionary movements and

repressive response are linked to US Foreign policy

• How to promote US foreign interests in the region

• US Hispanic population• 26 countries (10 on South

American continent)• Communism, socialism,

fascism, democracy, liberalism, positivism, corporatism,

• Variety of religions within dominant Catholic norm.

Characteristics

geographic• Total land area (including

Central and Southern North America) is 2 ½ times the size of the USA

• Brasil alone is larger than the USA

• Andean mountains• Rainforest• Arid plains (Mexico)• Fertile grasslands (Arg)• Desert regions, coastal

wetlands, archipelagos

cultural• Spanish/Portuguese colonies –

language• Indigenous populations

– Aztec, Maya, Inca civilizations– Multiple tribal groups today

• Global immigrant population• 3 dominant races

– White europeans, black africans, native indians

• Urbanization

Country Population Area (km2) Density

Ecuador 13,363,593 283,109 47

Colombia 42,954,279 1,138,910 37

Venezuela 25,375,281 912,050 27

Brasil 186,112,794 8,511,965 21

Peru 27,925,628 1,285,220 21

Chile 16,136,137 756,950 21

Uruguay 3,415,920 176,220 19

Paraguay 6,158,000 406,750 15

Argentina 39,537,943 2,766,890 14

Bolivia 8,857,870 1,098,580 8

Guyana 765,283 214,970 3

Suriname 438,144 163,270 2

French Guiana 195,506 91,000 2

Falklands 2,967 12,173 0.24

Total Polulation 371,239,345

Dominguez• Elections– Conferring legitimacy, safety valve, free expression of

preferences, accommodate differences without derailing constitutional order

– 2006 elections• Turnout, volume of events, free and fair, losers went away

• Inequality– Social and economic disparities remain intense– Globalization reveals these and consequence is status

discontent– Government policies (Lula -Bolsa Familia; Chavez-

misiones)

Dominguez

• Institutional Deficit– Capacity to handle social pressures– Political parties, judiciary, basic services, police,

education, etc• Leadership Balance– Achieving consensus to address these deficits– Higher quality education, judicial systems are

imperative– Question of re-election and governance

• Country specific differences/constraints

Dominguez• Global Consensus– Core tenets of democratic governance– Push back on efforts to promote liberal democracy?

• Ex: OAS response to coup of Manuel Zelaya June 09 in favor of Micheletti i(Honduras)

• US status is weak• Dimensions of democratic governance– Decentralization of Power

• mayoral election – performance based• Enhanced fragmentation of power

– Media• Press freedom – uneven progress

– Civil society• Fragmentation or pluralism?

Hagopian

• 1978 democratic expansion• 1990 most in region democratically elected

government• Economic performance has varied but democracy

has endured and deepened– Voter turnout– Accountability– Freedom– Competition – equality

Hagopian’s Three Goals

• Chart the advances and setbacks– 1978 – Colombia, CR and Venezuela democratic– 2004 – only Cuba and Haiti remained

authoritarian (Haiti dem elects in 2006)

• Explain the post-1978 change– Why is authoritarianism the exception? (Cuba)– Why have some countries advanced

democratically and others experienced setbacks?

Hagopian’s Three Goals

• Contribute to the broader comparative literature on democratization and consolidation– How does democracy survive?– How does democracy thrive?– How does democracy fail?

Theoretical Arguments about Democracy

• Competitively elected regimes survive despite poor economic performance– Democracy lasts in hard times and inauspicious

places– El Salvador– Guatemala– Bolivia • One of the poorest• Ethnically divided• History of instability

Theoretical Arguments about Democracy

• “Inhospitable” structural variables combined with poor regime performance negatively impacts regime solidity and quality– Regime solidity – extent to which competitively

elected regimes are reasonably full democracies – tendency to breakdown or erosion

– Not static: Venezuela 1989 -

Impact on other Theoretical Approaches

• Modernization– ????

• Dependency– ????– Globalization– International factors