DOCSLIB.ORG

The Obama Initiative by Ronald H

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Obama Initiative by Ronald H lasaforum spring 2011 : volume xlii : issue 2 letter to the editor The Obama Initiative by ronald H. CHilCote | University of California, Riverside | [email protected] During 2008–2009 the editors of Latin participants, with papers and presentations Resolution on the Obama Administration American Perspectives (LAP) organized by Greg Grandin, Rafael Hernández, and and Latin America three journal issues in celebration of the Miguel Tinker-Salas. The paper and fiftieth anniversary of the Cuban Revolution resolutions were also the focus of a LAP The Latin American Studies Association (Issues 164, 165, and 166 [Volume 36, 1–3], editors’ meeting in Toronto. (LASA) is the largest professional association January, March, and May 2009). A in the world for individuals and institutions collective position paper evolved through Thus, we took our endeavor seriously and engaged in the study of Latin America and that lengthy process and served to introduce opened our lengthy deliberations to the the Caribbean. With over 6,000 members, our project. It was during this period that LASA membership. LASA President John 45 percent of whom reside outside the Barack Obama became U.S. president after a Coatsworth cooperated with us, and the United States, LASA is the one Association two-year campaign and a landslide election. resolutions were presented with petitions that brings together experts on Latin In late 2009 the editors decided to focus on signed by more than twice the number of America from all disciplines and diverse the first two years of his presidency and, in required endorsers (thirty). The LASA occupational endeavors, across the globe. particular, his administration’s policies on Executive Council (EC) must approve the For decades, LASA members have spoken in Latin America. submission of a resolution to a vote of the defense of democracy and human rights in membership. The resolution on Cuba the Western Hemisphere and in support of Our purpose was to seek a means for submitted by the Cuba Section and the LAP peaceful and respectful relations among expressing a positive and constructive Honduras resolution moved forward with states in the region. position regarding present and future U.S. minor changes, but our resolution on foreign policy in Latin America. A position Obama’s policy for Latin America was, Whereas: as a candidate, Barack Obama paper evolved through five meetings of according to one EC member, voted down promised a new approach to Latin America debate and discussion and through four on the grounds that it was “factually that rejected unilateralism and recognized drafts with the intent of carrying a position inaccurate, lengthy, and ideological.” We the importance of promoting social justice paper to the Latin American Studies wanted it to be accurate and constructive, and reducing inequality; and Association meetings in Toronto (October and we would have been willing to revise it 6–9, 2010). Our position paper (to be in a way that the executive committee could Whereas: in October 2008, leaders and published in the July 2011 issue of LAP) approve it and the membership could vote it members of LASA called on Senator Obama, served as a foundation for resolutions up or down. The EC could have consulted if elected, to reject the U.S. role in imposing prepared for the 2010 Congress. As us, but chose not to do so. We believe that a economic policies that concentrated wealth academics concerned about the role of the mail ballot would have resulted in a very and undermined human welfare and to United States in Latin America, we wanted large majority of LASA members supporting respond with friendship and respect to the to present LASA members with an the resolution, as indeed they subsequently movements of workers, peasants, women opportunity to express their views about approved the Cuba and Honduras and indigenous communities for social U.S. policy in Latin America and to identify resolutions. After the LASA Congress we change; and problems and suggest new policy directions consulted past association presidents Arturo with the hope of improving future relations Arias, John Coatsworth, Carmen Diana Whereas: in April 2009 at the Summit of between the United States and Latin Deere, Susan Eckstein, Marysa Navarro, and the Americas in Trinidad, President Obama America. Helen Safa, and they supported sending the recognized that “Every one of our nations Obama resolution for a vote and agreed that has a right to follow its own path” and At LASA our Obama resolution was debated the text should appear in the LASA Forum. expressed his intention to engage the rest of and improved through a LAP workshop We print the resolution below. the hemisphere on the basis of “mutual attended by some thirty persons, who respect and equality”; and carefully reviewed it and made minor changes. Next, the position paper served as Whereas: although some positive steps a departure point for a “Featured Panel” have been taken, such as the limited presided over by Ronald Chilcote and Sheryl expansion of travel to Cuba, these initiatives Lutjens and attended by several hundred have been relatively minor and are 24 outweighed by policies that continue and 2. The Latin American Studies Association the DREAM act that facilitates higher even expand the undesirable policies of the urges President Obama to accept the Unión education for young adults who arrived as past; and de Naciones Suramericanas’(UNASUR’s) call undocumented children; to establish South America as a zone of Whereas: the embargo of Cuba has not peace; This resolution will be mailed to President been lifted and the U.S. is the only nation in Barack Obama, all members of the U.S. the Americas opposed to readmitting Cuba 3. The Latin American Studies Association House of Representatives and the U.S. to the Organization of American States; and urges President Obama to normalize Senate, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton relations with Cuba, including actively and Assistant Secretary of State for Western Whereas: the militarism of Plan Colombia working to bring about the total lifting of Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela, the and Plan Mérida, the militarization of drug the embargo by Congress; New York Times, Washington Post, and Los policy, and the deployment of the Fourth Angeles Times. Fleet have been reinforced with plans to add 4. The Latin American Studies Association military bases in Latin America and to urges President Obama to actively pursue Presented to the Executive Council by increasingly militarize the U.S.-Mexico friendly relations with Bolivia, including seventy-two members of the Latin American border; and ending the ban on importing Bolivian Studies Association. textiles; Whereas: the Obama administration has [Professor Chilcote is managing editor continued the George W. Bush 5. The Latin American Studies Association of the bimonthly journal Latin American administration’s divisive and urges President Obama to actively pursue Perspectives] n counterproductive hostility toward friendly relations with Venezuela and to end progressive governments in Latin America, U.S. support for groups or entities that seek particularly toward Venezuela and Bolivia, to destabilize the Venezuelan government; but failed to defend democracy in Honduras, condoning the coup, and has deepened ties 6. The Latin American Studies Association to Colombia with its appalling record of urges President Obama to base U.S. policy human rights abuses; and toward Colombia on the reduction of human rights abuses and violence against Whereas: the Obama administration has the civilian population by the security and failed to address the causes of paramilitary forces; undocumented immigration, including the role of U.S. trade and economic policies, and 7. The Latin American Studies Association has disregarded the harmful consequences of urges President Obama to formulate new deporting more undocumented immigrants trade and development policies and than the Bush administration; now therefore programs that increase the opportunities for let it be Latin Americans to live a dignified life in their own countries and that incorporate Resolved: greater freedom of movement of labor in conditions that respect the rights of 1. The Latin American Studies Association immigrant workers; urges President Obama to reduce, rather than increase, the U.S. military presence in 8. The Latin American Studies Association Latin America and to reverse the urges President Obama to cease deportation militarization of U.S. regional and border of undocumented immigrants who have no policies; criminal charges against them until such time as comprehensive immigration reform is enacted and to fully support enactment of 25.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Role of Allen Dulles in Us Policy Discussions on Latin America, 1953-611
    THE PRAGMATIC FACE OF THE COVERT IDEALIST: THE ROLE OF ALLEN DULLES IN US POLICY DISCUSSIONS ON LATIN AMERICA, 1953-611 Assessments of the CIA’s role in Latin America during the 1950s have tended to focus predominantly on the twin case-studies of Guatemala and Cuba. Consequently, the Agency’s role – and, more broadly, that of its head Allen Dulles – has come to be seen as one obsessed with covert action and relatively unimportant in terms of policy discussions. Dulles, in fact, has been portrayed as an unwilling and disinterested participant in policy discussions. The present article will challenge those assertions by suggesting that, by examining Dulles’s role in the Eisenhower administration’s discussions on Latin America, a different picture emerges – one that paints Dulles as an active and rational participant, and which raises important questions for our understanding of the CIA’s role during the Eisenhower era. ‘In the 1950s’, writes Greg Grandin in describing the Central Intelligence Agency’s role in Guatemala in 1954, ‘the Cold War was often presented as a battle of ideas, yet CIA agents on the ground didn’t see it that way’…they insisted ‘on a strategy intended to inspire fear more than virtue.’2 Grandin’s view – along with the widely held perception among many non- specialists that the 1950s served as a form of ‘golden age’ for the CIA – has come to dominate historical, and indeed cultural, representations of the Agency’s role in the early- Cold War era. During the period when Dwight D. Eisenhower was president and Allen Dulles was the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI), it is commonly held, the CIA enjoyed a position of unparalleled success in US foreign policy.
    [Show full text]
  • CORE-UA 515 ​Cultures and Contexts: Latin America Spring 2018
    CORE-UA 515 ​Cultures and Contexts: Latin America Spring 2018: Tuesday, Thursday 9:30–10:45, plus recitation Professor Jill Lane Associate Professor, Spanish and Portuguese Director, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies [email protected] Office hours : Wednesdays, 2:30 PM – 4:00 PM by appointment Office: 53 Washington Square South, 4W Teaching Assistants, Recitations Section: 002 Fri 8.00 AM - 9.15 AM at BOBS LL141 with Ezequiel​ ​Zaidenwerg Section: 003 Fri 9.30 AM - 10.45 AM at BOBS LL141 with Ezequiel Zaidenwerg Section: 004 Fri 11.00 AM - 12.15 PM at BOBS LL141 with Héctor Celis Section: 005 Fri 12.30 PM - 1.45 PM at BOBS LL141 with Héctor Celis Section: 006 Fri 2.00 PM - 3.15 PM at BOBS LL142 with Maria Pichon Rivière Section: 007 Fri 3.30 PM - 4.45 PM at BOBS LL142 with Maria Pichon Rivière Course Overview Over the last 60 years, millions of Latin Americans have experienced extraordinary shifts in their social, political, and cultural landscape, a result of the transformative effects of revolution or insurgency, state repression, popular resistance and social movements. To understand this experience, this course uses three strategies, focusing on (1) key dates, (2) keywords, and (3) primary sources. By “​key dates​” we mean dates that mark a critical juncture in larger processes of social change, usually marking a consolidation of or turn from the dominant social forces of the time: elections, deaths of leaders, signing of new laws or treaties, the beginning or end of governments, social movements, and of insurgencies and counterinsurgencies.
    [Show full text]
  • CORE-UA 515 Cultures and Contexts: Latin America Monday, Wednesday 11:00–12:15, Silver 206
    CORE-UA 515 Cultures and Contexts: Latin America Monday, Wednesday 11:00–12:15, Silver 206 Professor Jill Lane Associate Professor, Spanish and Portuguese Director, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies [email protected] Teaching Assistants: Germán Garrido Section: 002 Tue 8.00 AM - 9.15 AM at BOBS LL146 Section: 003 Tue 9.30 AM - 10.45 AM at 5WP 302 Emmanuel Velayo Section: 004 8.00 AM - 9.15 AM at SILV 514 Section: 005 Tue 9.30 AM - 10.45 AM at SILV 514 Course Overview Over the last 60 years, millions of Latin Americans have experienced extraordinary shifts in their social, political, and cultural landscape, a result of the transformative effects of revolution or insurgency, state repression, popular resistance and social movements. To understand this experience, this course uses three strategies, focusing on (1) key dates, (2) keywords, and (3) primary sources. By “key dates” we mean dates that mark a critical juncture in larger processes of social change, usually marking a consolidation of or turn from the dominant social forces of the time: elections, deaths of leaders, signing of new laws or treaties, the beginning or end of governments, social movements, and of insurgencies and counterinsurgencies. For this class, we focus on events that had continental, hemispheric, and even global impact, including the Cuban Revolution of 1959, the military coups of the 1970s, and the Zapatista uprising in 1994. But by key dates, we also mean something more: our goal is not only to learn about the succession of events, but to capture the urgency and contingency of those moments.
    [Show full text]
  • Arturo Valenzuela, Nominee for Valenzuela’S Assistant Secretary of State for Background Western Hemisphere Affairs
    July 2009 NomineeAlert this issue: Arturo Valenzuela, Nominee for Valenzuela’s Assistant Secretary of State for Background Western Hemisphere Affairs Professor of Government and Director of the Center for Latin American Studies, Georgetown University Who is Arturo Valenzuela? Wrong man for the job... On June 8, 2009, President Obama nominated Zelaya was a “military coup,” Colombia needs to Director, Corpbanca S.A. Arturo Valenzuela to be Assistant Secretary of respect human rights, abortion should be legal, American Depository Shares, State for Western Hemisphere Affairs. and restrictions on travel to Cuba should be Santiago, Chile eliminated. Fn.1. Valenzuela serves “Valenzuela’s flaws are Visiting Scholar at Oxford organizations with views so patently obvious that Mick Andersen, a prominent University, The University of that are quite even a prominent, hardened Obama supporter, staunchly Sussex, The University of controversial. Valenzuela Obama supporter opposes opposes Valenzuela’s Florence, and Catholic University is a member of an advisory his nomination. Obama nomination. Andersen has of Chile board at Human Rights held a number of jobs, should withdraw Watch, a member of the Valenzuela’s nomination, including ones at The Special Assistant to the President National Democratic Washington Post, replacing him with and Senior Director for Institute, as well as, a Newsweek, Congressional someone who can Inter-American Affairs, member of The National Quarterly, and the staff of National Security Council Council of La Raza (The competently represent us.” Senator Alan Cranston (D- Race). These -Bill Wilson, President, Americans CA). His writings have also Deputy Assistant Secretary for organizations espouse for Limited Government appeared in The London Inter-American Affairs, U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Quiet Genocide.Indd
    Quiet Genocide reviews the legal and historical case that genocide occurred in Guatemala in 1981-1983. It includes the full text of the genocide section of a United Nations sponsored Commission on Historical Clarifi cation in Guatemala (CEH), brokered by the UN. In its fi nal report, the CEH’s rigorously reviewed abuses throughout the whole country. However, the memory of the Guatemalan dirty war, which predated the genocide and continued for over a decade of the heightened killing, has rapidly faded from international awareness. ! e book renders a historical picture of the 1948 Genocide Convention and its unique status in international law. It reminds readers of the diffi culty of preventing and punishing genocide as illustrated by the ongoing tragedy of Darfur; and discusses the evolution of international and hybrid tribunals to prosecute genocide along with war crimes and crimes against humanity. ! en, it sketches a brief history of Guatemala with a focus on genocide. By translating the genocide argument of the CEH into English and framing it in a lively, accessible way, this volume recovers the past, sets the record straight, and promotes accountability. ! is exploratory eff ort provides insight into the world of transitional justice and truth commissions, and valuable insights about how to engage with the question of genocide in the future. ! ese fi ndings shed light on a crucial and dark chapter of trans-American Cold War history, and will thus be of interest not only to scholars focused on Guatemala, but also on Central America and even more broadly, on the Cold War. has been a researcher for Human Rights Watch, the general project coordinator and Research Fellow at the International Human Rights Law Institute at De Paul University, and has worked in war crimes tribunals in Cambodia and Sierra Leone, as well as other human rights NGOs around the world.
    [Show full text]
  • Syllabus Buenos Aires Fall 2018 Cultures and Contexts: Latin
    NYU Buenos Aires Cultures and Contexts: Latin America CORE-UA 9515-001 Instructor Information ● Cecilia Palmeiro, Ph.D ● +541165703179 ● Office hours by appointment ● [email protected] Course Information Over the last 50 years, millions of Latin Americans have experienced extraordinary shifts in their social, political, and cultural landscape, a result of the transformative effects of revolution or insurgency, state repression, popular resistance and social movements. To understand this experience, this course uses three strategies, focusing on (1) key dates, (2) keywords, and (3) primary sources. By “key dates” we mean dates that mark a critical juncture in larger processes of social change, usually marking a consolidation of or turn from the dominant social forces of the time: elections, deaths of leaders, signing of new laws or treaties, the beginning or end of governments, social movements, and of insurgencies and counterinsurgencies. For this class, we focus on events that had continental, hemispheric, and even global impact, including the Cuban Revolution of 1959, the military coups of the 1970s, and the Zapatista uprising in 1994. But by key dates, we also mean something more: our goal is not only to learn about the succession of events, but to capture the urgency and contingency of those moments. A historian might ask: “why did the Chilean military coup take place in 1973?” and offer an explanation of why events unfolded as they did. Drawing on a range of primary sources and cultural forms (film, music, art), we listen carefully to
    [Show full text]
  • U.S. Relations with Latin America During the Clinton Years
    U.S. Relations with Latin America during the Clinton Years Copyright 2006 by David Scott Palmer. This work is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by- nc-nd/3.0/. You are free to electronically copy, distribute, and transmit this work if you attribute authorship. However, all printing rights are reserved by the University Press of Florida (http://www.upf.com). Please contact UPF for information about how to obtain copies of the work for print distribution. You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. Any of the above conditions can be waived if you get permission from the University Press of Florida. Nothing in this license impairs or restricts the author’s moral rights. University Press of florida Florida A&M University, Tallahassee Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton Florida Gulf Coast University, Ft. Myers Florida International University, Miami Florida State University, Tallahassee New College of Florida, Sarasota University of Central Florida, Orlando University of Florida, Gainesville University of North Florida, Jacksonville University of South Florida, Tampa University of West Florida, Pensacola U.S. Relations with Latin America during the Clinton Years Opportunities Lost or Opportunities Squandered? David Scott Palmer University Press of Florida Gainesville/Tallahassee/Tampa/Boca Raton Pensacola/Orlando/Miami/Jacksonville/Ft.
    [Show full text]
  • U.C.L.A. Law Review
    U.C.L.A. Law Review Unsettling the Border Sherally Munshi ABSTRACT When scholars and lawmakers ask who should be allowed to cross borders, under what circumstances, on what ground, they often leave unexamined the historical formation of the border itself. National borders are taken for granted as the backdrop against which normative debates unfold. This Article intervenes in contemporary debates about border crossing by bringing the border itself into the frame of normative consideration. It does so by exploring the colonial dimensions of the national border and calling attention to the ways in which national borders circumscribe and constrain the political imaginary. Focusing on the United States in particular, this Article seeks to defamiliarize the southern border by resituating it within a widened context of settler colonialism and hemispheric domination. Rather than offer a normative case for building a wall or opening borders, this Article asserts that meaningful engagement with the border question requires that we unsettle the border by critically examining the colonial processes and epistemic formations that naturalize and legitimate it. AUTHOR Sherally Munshi, Associate Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center. I am indebted to many friends and colleagues who offered helpful feedback at various stages, especially Allegra McLeod, Tendayi Achiume, Aslı Bâli, Sheryll Cashin, Joshua Cohen, Laura Cahier, Seth Davis, Pratheepan Gulasekaram, Kaaryn Gustafson, Erica Hashimoto, Leila Kawar, Betsy Kuhn, Stephen Lee, Itamar Mann, Naomi Mezey, Jaya Ramji-Nogales, Carrie Rosenbaum, Louis Seidman, Phil Schrag, and Madhavi Sunder. I am grateful to organizers of the Georgetown Law Faculty workshop, CLEAR Perspectives Series at UC Irvine School of Law, the Berkeley Refugee and Migration Law Workshop, and the UCLA Law Review’s January 2020 Symposium, Transnational Legal Discourse on Race and Empire, for giving me the opportunity to share versions of this Article.
    [Show full text]
  • Intelligence Analysis and Decision-Making Behind the Overthrow of Guatemalan Democracy
    Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports 2017 In Darker Shadows: Intelligence Analysis and Decision-Making behind the Overthrow of Guatemalan Democracy William R. Weber Follow this and additional works at: https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd Recommended Citation Weber, William R., "In Darker Shadows: Intelligence Analysis and Decision-Making behind the Overthrow of Guatemalan Democracy" (2017). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 6928. https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/6928 This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by the The Research Repository @ WVU with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you must obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Thesis has been accepted for inclusion in WVU Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports collection by an authorized administrator of The Research Repository @ WVU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. In Darker Shadows: Intelligence Analysis and Decision-making Behind the Overthrow of Guatemalan Democracy William R. Weber Thesis submitted to the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History James F. Siekmeier, Ph.D., Chair Michelle M. Stephens, Ph.D. David M. Hauser, Ph.D. Department of History Morgantown, West Virginia 2017 Keywords: CIA; Guatemala; Analyst; Intelligence Community; Cold War; Eisenhower; Árbenz; Covert Action, Decision-making Copyright 2017 William R.
    [Show full text]
  • The Politics of Latin America SPRING 2016 Course: POL-UA 530
    The Politics of Latin America SPRING 2016 Course: POL-UA 530 Pablo Querubín Department of Politics, NYU 19w 4th Street, Room 208 Email: [email protected] Tel: 212 992 6525 Course Description: This course presents a broad overview of the main Questions on Latin American political and economic development in the long run. Why did Latin American fall behind the United States? Why are Latin American societies so uneQual? Why has Latin America experienced high political instability, shifting between dictatorship and democracy, and sometimes revolution and armed struggles? What are the main characteristics of Latin American democracies in the present? The course introduces students to the main theories on democracy and development. SubseQuently, it uses these theories to interpret Latin America’s political instability and persistent economic ineQuality going back to the colonial period, all the way to the present. Finally, the course addresses some features of Latin American democracies such as state weakness, clientelism, corruption, amongst others. Time and Location: Tuesday and Thursday 11:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Room: KIMM 808 (Kimmel Center, 60 Washington Square S). Grader: Rafael J. Ch ([email protected]) ReQuirements: All students are expected to have completed the relevant readings before the class meeting each week. The course is not taught from a single textbook. Instead, weekly readings will be drawn from one reQuired textbook, and from a collection of articles and book chapters (whenever possible, these readings will be posted on the NYU Classes course site). You should aim to evaluate critically the theoretical argument and the evidence advanced in each reading.
    [Show full text]
  • Carlos Castillo Armas, the United States and the 1954 Counterrevolution in Guatemala
    CARLOS CASTILLO ARMAS, THE UNITED STATES AND THE 1954 COUNTERREVOLUTION IN GUATEMALA Andres Alberto Tapia B.A., University of California, Davis, 2009 THESIS Submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in HISTORY at CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SACRAMENTO FALL 2011 CARLOS CASTILLO ARMAS, THE UNITED STATES AND THE 1954 COUNTERREVOLUTION IN GUATEMALA A Thesis by Andres Alberto Tapia Approved by: __________________________________, Committee Chair Joseph Palermo __________________________________, Second Reader Patrick Ettinger ____________________________ Date ii Student: Andres Alberto Tapia I certify that this student has met the requirements for format contained in the University format manual, and that this thesis is suitable for shelving in the Library and credit is to be awarded for the thesis. __________________________, Graduate Coordinator ___________________ Mona Siegel Date Department of History iii Abstract of CARLOS CASTILLO ARMAS, THE UNITED STATES AND THE 1954 COUNTERREVOLUTION IN GUATEMALA by Andres Alberto Tapia Statement of Problem The 1954 overthrow of President Jacobo Arbenz Gúzman orchestrated by the United States has been approached by various points of view by different historians. While many aspects of the overthrow such as the involvement of the Central Intelligence Agency, the influence of the United Fruit Company, and the Guatemalan government’s relation to communism have all been covered, one crucial player in the overthrow, Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas, has not gained the same critical attention. Castillo Armas acted as the counterrevolutionary the CIA chose to lead the overthrow of Arbenz therefore understanding how he received the role and how he performed his task is important to understanding this historical moment.
    [Show full text]
  • Theoretical Reflections on the Chilean Case*
    STUDY THE ORIGINS OF DEMOCRACY: THEORETICAL REFLECTIONS ON THE CHILEAN CASE* Arturo Valenzuela and Samuel Valenzuela Chile was one of the most democratic countries in the world, not only in the 1960s but also during the last century and a half. Political institutions in Chile evolved in a similar way to comparable institutions in Europe and the United States, in conditions generally considered to be unfavorable for the development of representative processes and procedures. Based on the Chilean case, this article seeks to help explain the origin and consolidation of democratic regimes. In the author’s opinion, the Chilean case calls into question the general validity of the most accepted theories of the gestation of democratic regimes. The article provides an historical interpretation of the evolution of Chile’s institutional structures compared to other western democracies; it then points out the shortcomings in cultural and economic theories of the origin of democracy; and lastly, it stresses the value that a historical and political approach can provide to the gestation of democratic institutions, as can be inferred from the Chilean case in the 19th century. ARTURO VALENZUELA. Duke University. SAMUEL VALENZUELA. Harvard University. * This study presents an overview of some of the main arguments of a book by the same title to be published by Cambridge University Press. Estudios Públicos, 12 (autumn 1983). 2 ESTUDIOS PÚBLICOS A fter World War II there was a fundamental shift in the analysis of democratic regimes. Guided in part by the pessimism of authors such as Michels, Mosca and Pareto, who became skeptical of the ability of European societies to practice democratic ideals, the theorists of politics moved away from a preoccupation with constitutionalism and the normative implications of regime types, to a concern for understanding the actual operation of democracy in complex contemporary nation-states.
    [Show full text]