"The essays in this book, written by distinguished specialists, examine the different trajectories in Spain and several nations in Latin America, and seek to explain the different outcomes. In the large recent literature on transitions, this is the first systematic comparison between Spain and the Latin American cases. Taken together, these papers make a powerful argument in favor of the thesis that the outcomes of these transitions are largely determined by the solidity of institutions, governmental ones in particular."--BOOK JACKET.

A distinguished group of scholars examine recent transitions to democracy and the prospects for democratic stability in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Portugal, Spain and Uruguay. They also assess the role of elites in the longer-established democratic regimes in Columbia, Costa Rica, Italy, Mexico and Venezuela. The authors conclude that in independent states with long records of political instability and authoritarian rule, democratic consolidation requires the achievement of elite 'consensual unity' - that is, agreement among all politically important elites on the worth of existing democratic institutions and respect for democratic rules-of-the-game, coupled with increased 'structural integration' among those elites. Two processes by which consensual unity can be established are explored - elite settlement, the negotiating of compromises on basic disagreements, and elite convergence, a more subtle series of tactical decisions by rival elites which have cumulative effect, over perhaps a generation.

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This is the third of four volumes compiled in honor of Juan J. Linz and edited by H. E. Chehabi, Richard Gunther, Alfred Stepan, and Arturo Valenzuela. Each volume presents original research and theoretical essays by Linz's distinguished collaborators, students, teachers, and friends, as well as overviews of his enormous contributions to Spanish and Latin American studies, comparative politics, and sociology.In Volume III, leading Latin American scholars evaluate Juan Linz's contribution to the study of Latin American politics, in particular his influence on studies dealing with authoritarianism, democratic breakdown, public opinion, regime transition, and the institutional conditions needed for stable democracy.

This succinct overview of the political factors that condition social and economic development in Latin America is the perfect core text in courses on politics, government, social change, and transitions to democracy throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

Using a rich variety of sources, this book explores how the historical memory of the Spanish Civil War influenced the transition to democracy in Spain after Franco's death in 1975.