This is a study of the recent emergence of democracy in Latin America. The author shows that traditional theories of democratization fall short in explaining this phenomenon. Scholars have held that the post-war stability of Western Europe reveals that restricted democracy, or "democratic elitism", is the only realistic way to guard against forces such as the mass mobilizations that toppled Eurpoean democracies after World War I. Leonardo Avritzer challenges this view. Drawing on the ideas of Jurgen Habermas, he argues that democracy can be far more inclusive and can rely on a sphere of autonomous association and argument by showing that democratic collective action has opened up a new "public space" for popular participation in Latin American politics. Unlike many theorists, Avritzer builds his case empirically. He looks at human rights movements in Argentina and Brazil, neighbourhood associations in Brazil and Mexico and election-monitoring initiatives in Mexico. Contending that such participation has not gone far enough, he proposes a way to involve citizens even more directly in policy decisions.
For example, he points to experiments in "participary budgeting" in two Brazilian
Rezensionen / Stimmen
Leonardo Avritzer has written the most ambitious and important contribution to the literature on democratization in Latin America that this reviewer has read in the last several years... [E]xemplary of the best of contemporary political science writing. -- William M. Nylen Latin American Politics & Society Leonardo Avritzer has written the most ambitious and important contribution to the literature on democratization in Latin America that this reviewer has read in the last several years... [A] fine example of social science scholarship. -- William M. Nylen Latin American Politics and Society
Sprache
Verlagsort
Zielgruppe
Für Beruf und Forschung
Für höhere Schule und Studium
Produkt-Hinweis
Maße
Höhe: 229 mm
Breite: 152 mm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-0-691-09087-0 (9780691090870)
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Schweitzer Klassifikation
Leonardo Avritzer is Professor of Political Science at Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais in Brazil. He is the author of numerous articles on democracy and civil society in Latin America, and of two books in Portugese: Sociedade Civil e Democratizacao and A Moralidade da Democracia.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS v INTRODUCTION 3 ONE. Democratic Theory and Democratization 11 TWO. Democratic Theory and the Formation of a Public Sphere 36 THREE. Democracy and the Latin American Tadition 55 FOUR. The Transformation of the Latin American Public Space 77 FIVE. Democratization in Latin America The Conflict between Public Practices and the Logic of Political Society 103 SIX. Participatory Publics in Brazil and Mexico The Compatibility of Public Deliberation and Complex Administration 135 SEVEN. Concluding Remarks on the Democratizing Role of Participatory Publics 165 NOTES 171 REFERENCES 185 INDEX 199
