Citizen Views of Democracy in Latin America

Abstract

When Americans and Americans talk about democracy, are they imagining same thing? For years, researchers have suspected that fundamental differences exist between how North Americans view and appraise concept of and how Americans view same term. These differences directly affect evolution of democratization and political liberalization in countries of region, and understanding them has tremendous consequences for U.S.-Latin relations. But until now there has been no hard data to make the definition of democracy visible, and thus able to be interpreted. This book, culmination of a monumental survey project, is first attempt to do so. Camp headed a research team that in 1998 surveyed 1,200 citizens in three countries - three distinct cases of democratic transition. Costa Rica is alleged to be most democratic in America; Mexico is a country in transition toward democracy; Chile is returning to after decades of severe repression. The survey was carefully designed to show how average citizen in each of these nations understands democracy. In Citizen Views of Democracy in America, ten leading scholars of region analyze and interpret results. Written with scholar and undergraduate in mind, essays explore countries individually, showing how meaning of varies among them. A key theme emerges: there is no uniform Latin American understanding of democracy, though nations share important patterns. Other essays trace issues across boundaries, such as role of ethnicity on perceptions of democracy. Several of contributors also compare democratic norms in America with those outside region, including United States. Concluding essays analyze institutional and policy consequences of data, including how attitudes toward private versus public ownership are linked to democratization. Every essay in collection is based on same data set, included on a CD-ROM packaged within each book, resulting in an organically cohesive work ideally suited for use in courses introducing and Third World politics, comparative politics, democratic transition, and research methods. Scholars and students may use software and data set on CD-ROM for comparative research projects linked to essays in volume.