Dual Transitions from Authoritarian Rule: Institutionalized Regimes in Chile and Mexico, 1970-2000

by Francisco E. González

Overview

2008 Outstanding Academic Title, Choice Magazine

Latin America's region-wide 1982 economic collapse had a drastic effect on governments throughout Central and South America, leading many to the verge of failure and pushing several of the most stridently authoritarian—Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, and Uruguay—over the brink. Surprisingly though, Chile's repressive military dictatorship and Mexico's hegemonic civilian regime endured amid the economic chaos that rocked the region.

Dual Transitions from Authoritarian Rule explains why the regimes in these two nations survived the financial upheaval of the early 1980s and how each progressed toward a more open, democratic, market-driven system in later years. Using an in-depth comparative analysis of Chile and Mexico, Francisco González explains that the two governments—though quite different ideologically—possessed a common type of institutionalized authoritarian rule that not only served to maintain the political status quo but, paradoxically, also aided proponents of political and economic liberalization.

Featuring a discussion of parallel phenomena in Brazil, Hungary, Taiwan, and South Korea, Dual Transitions from Authoritarian Rule presents a cogent challenge to the received wisdom that sociopolitical and economic change within authoritarian nations must be approached separately. This book will interest scholars of Latin American politics, democratization studies, market reform, and comparative politics and international relations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801887994
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	04/21/2008
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.04(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Francisco E. González is the Riordan Roett Associate Professor of Latin American Studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and author of Dual Transitions from Authoritarian Rule: Institutionalized Regimes in Chile and Mexico, 1970–2000, published by Johns Hopkins.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction: Dual Transitions from Authoritarian Rule
Part I: The 1970s: Divergent Politicoeconomic Trajectories
1. Chile, 1970–1982
2. Mexico, 1970–1982
Part II: The 1980s: Surviving the Crisis Years and Convergence of Trajectories
3. Chile's Decisive Decade, 1982–1990
4. Mexico's Lost Decade, 1982–1988
Part III: The 1990s: Versions of Electoral Democracy and Free Market Economies
5. The New Chile, 1990–2000
6. Mexico in North America, 1988–2000
Conclusion: Dual Transitions in Chile, Mexico, and Beyond
Notes
Bibliography
Index

What People are Saying About This

Laurence Whitehead

This is a valuable addition to the comparative democratization literature. It makes important contributions in three areas: analytical, methodological, and empirical. The non-reductionist treatment of processes of 'dual transition' is a real improvement on earlier mechanistic ideas of 'sequencing.' The 'paired comparison' of Chile and Mexico shows how macro-historical work can be made more social scientific. And the case studies are important in their own right.

— Laurence Whitehead, Nuffield College, University of Oxford

Guillermo O'Donnell

A valuable study of an important but quite neglected topic: the various political and economic dynamics of authoritarian regimes and their consequences for subsequent transition to democracy. It will interest students of these broader issues, not only of Chile and Mexico.

— Guillermo O'Donnell, University of Notre Dame

From the Publisher

A valuable study of an important but quite neglected topic: the various political and economic dynamics of authoritarian regimes and their consequences for subsequent transition to democracy. It will interest students of these broader issues, not only of Chile and Mexico.
—Guillermo O'Donnell, University of Notre Dame

This is a valuable addition to the comparative democratization literature. It makes important contributions in three areas: analytical, methodological, and empirical. The non-reductionist treatment of processes of 'dual transition' is a real improvement on earlier mechanistic ideas of 'sequencing.' The 'paired comparison' of Chile and Mexico shows how macro-historical work can be made more social scientific. And the case studies are important in their own right.
—Laurence Whitehead, Nuffield College, University of Oxford

Editorial Reviews

Highly original academic work.

Survival - Russell Crandall

González's book is a serious attempt to understand the complex processes of political and economic change in Chile and Mexico. It is worth reading, and opens up an important debate about authoritarian rule and its pernicious consequences.

Journal of Latin American Studies - Reynaldo Yunuen Ortega Oritz

Analytically sophisticated and heavily documented with an extensive bibliography. It belongs in all college and university libraries... Highly recommended.

Choice

González's book is a serious attempt to understand the complex processes of political and economic change in Chile and Mexico. It is worth reading, and opens up an important debate about authoritarian rule and its pernicious consequences.

— Reynaldo Yunuen Ortega Oritz

Journal of Latin American Studies

Highly original academic work.

— Russell Crandall

Survival

Analytically sophisticated and heavily documented with an extensive bibliography. It belongs in all college and university libraries . . . Highly recommended.
—Choice

Highly original academic work.
—Russell Crandall, Survival

González's book is a serious attempt to understand the complex processes of political and economic change in Chile and Mexico. It is worth reading, and opens up an important debate about authoritarian rule and its pernicious consequences.
—Reynaldo Yunuen Ortega Oritz , Journal of Latin American Studies

From the Publisher