Overview

This volume, now available in paperback, compares the Spanish and Latin American 'double transitions' to liberal democracy and an open-market economy. Spain's transitions in the 1960s to 1980s have become the paradigmatic case of successful institutional transformation, and thus the standard for the evaluation of the economic and political change in Latin America and Central/Eastern Europe in the 1980s and 1990s. Even though most Latin American countries have transformed their economies and polities in recent decades, and the outcomes of this transformation have been variable, few of these countries have so far established solid liberal democracies and dynamic open economies. 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. Sustained economic growth requires not only economic liberalization (privatization, de-regulation, and the opening-up of closed economies) but also the rule of law, protection of property rights, effective control of markets in order to preserve competition, solid health and educational systems, and an adequate safety net. These conditions are necessary for a high-quality democracy. Without them, free and fair elections and the toleration of dissent are likely to become the façade of what scholars have termed: pseudo-democracy; illiberal democracy; or competitive authoritarianism.

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9781845191368

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The first process of political change of the third wave opened up new terrain for analysis in the social sciences, later incorporating the experiences of central and Eastern Europe. The transitions to democracy from socialism eclipsed for a while the attention on development in Latin America. Here, the political and academic agenda had moved on to give priority to the question of democratic governability. The volume by Waisman and Rein revisits this process, and does so from three perspectives. It takes on a comparative view, it adds to the analysis of the lessons learnt from Europe in the decade starting from 1989, and it has the benefit of hindsight in terms of knowing that there was no turning back following the transitions in Spain and Latin America and that these processes evolved with considerable political success. No doubt this historical perspective contributes to the lucidity with which the book discusses the evolution of democratic process. Waisman, in this sense, introduces an innovative explanatory factor in the analysis which is undoubtedly significant in understanding the enormous differences between the Spanish and Latin American experiences. -- Journal of Latin American Studies

Author Information

Carlos H Waisman is Professor of Sociology at the University of California, San Diego. He is the author of a large number of articles and books and book chapters. Raanan Rein is the Elias Sourasky Professor of Latin American and Spanish History and Vice President of Tel Aviv University. He is the author and editor of more than thirty books. In 2016 he won the Reimar Lust Research Award (co-sponsored by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation/Fritz Thyssen Foundation).

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