Promotional Information

The literature on transitions to democracy has made it clear that integration of conservative forces into the institutions of democracy-presumably through parties-is a crucial step. But there has been little discussion, or even description, of this process. So, for its descriptive materials alone, Conservative Parties, the Right, and Democracy in Latin America makes a contribution to scholarship on this problem. The essays all, in my judgment, represent solid accounts of the politics involved. -- Douglas Chalmers, Columbia University

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables
Acknowledgments
Principal Acronyms
Chapter 1. Introduction: Conservative Parties, Elite Representation, and Democracy in Latin America
Part I: Established Conservative Parties and the Challenge of Democracy
Chapter 2. Atavism and Democratic Ambiguity in the chilean Right
Chapter 3. The Conservative party and the Crisis of Political Legitimacy in Colombia
Chapter 4. Venezuelan Parties and the Representation of Elite Interests
Part II: Democratization, the Right, and New Conservative Parties
Chapter 5. Ruling Without a Party: Argentine Dominant Classes in the Twentieth Century
Chapter 6. Conservative Parties, Democracy, and Economic Reform in Contemporary Brazil
Chapter 7. Civil War and the Transformation of Elite Representation in El Salvador
Chapter 8. The Irrelevant Right: Alberto Fujimori and the New Politics of Pragmatic Peru
Chapter 9. Conclusion: Conservative Politics, the Right, and Democracy in Latin America
Statistical Appendix: National Election Results, 1980s and 1990s, for Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Peru, and Venezuela
Notes
List of Contributors
Index

About the Author

Kevin J. Middlebrook is Director of Research at the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, University of California-San Diego. He is the author of The Paradox of Revolution: Labor, the State, and Authoritarianism in Mexico, also available from Johns Hopkins.

Reviews

The essays are uniformly of high quality, interesting, and well integrated with one another. -- Michael A. Morris Perspectives on Political Science A solid collection of essays from top scholars. -- Jennifer S. Holmes Journal of Politics Middlebrook's volume is the most important cross-national volume to date for understanding conservative parties in the Americas. -- Peter M. Siavelis Latin American Research Review