Howard Handelman

Military government and the movement toward democracy in South America

Introduction Ecuador The Politics of Transition Thomas G. Sanders A New Political Direction? Howard Handelman Postscript Howard Handelman Peru The Politics of Transition Thomas G. Sanders The March to Civilan Rule Howard Handlman Postscript Howard Handelman Brazil Decompression Thomas G. Sanders In the Name of Democracy: the Presidential Succession Norman Gall Human Rights and Political Process Thomas G. Sanders Postscript Thomas G. Sanders Uruguay Military Authoritarianism and Political Change Howard Handelman Economic Policy and Elite Pressures Howard Handelman Postscript Howard Handelman Chile Military Government and National Organization Thomas G. Sanders The Catholic Church under a Military Regime Thomas G. Sanders and Brian H. Smith The ONew InstitutionalityO and the OConsultationO Thomas G. Sanders Postscript Thomsa G. Sanders Select English-Language Bibliography on South American Political Systems and the Military in Politics

Politicians and Politics in Latin America (review)

This volume is a collection of articles on political elites in contemporary Latin America (specifically, members of Congress) authored by a team of scholars at Spains University of Salamanca. Their findings derive from a massive survey of Latin American congressmen conducted in three rounds between 1994 and 2006. The data analysis itself is limited to the second and third rounds because the first, exploratory, survey covered too few countries. In all, the survey covered 17 nations (excluding Brazil and Cuba), with some 1,000 interviews per round. By the last round, the Salamanca team managed to interview at least 57 percent of the congressmen in all but two countries (over 85 percent in some), guaranteeing a representative sample.

The Origins of the Ecuadorian Bourgeoisie: Its Implications for Democracy, Challenges and Limits to Latin America's Democratic Revolution

Abstract Based on interviews with 83 Ecuadorian business leaders, this article finds that many of the most prominent members of the bourgeoisie were of recent foreign origin while another large group came from families of landowners. Sons of landowners tended to be strongly anti-statist, while sons of industrialists tended to be relatively more statist. But only children of public employees and politicians had a positive view of state economic activity. All business leaders favoured military over civilian governments. The sons of landowners and professionals were most partial to military regimes, and they were also the most anti-union. These results support previous research that finds the Ecuadorian business elite to be conservative, anti-statist, and weakly committed to democracy, but also traces attitudinal different within this orientation to the social origins of the bourgeoisie. While a variety of factors have contributed to the weakness and instability of democracy in Ecuador in recent decades, this article provides evidence that the political attitudes of the bourgeoisie are a part of the explanation.