Deepening Local Democracy in Latin America : : Participation, Decentralization, and the Left / / Benjamin Goldfrank.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Penn State University Press Complete eBook-Package Pre-2014
• VerfasserIn: Goldfrank, Benjamin,
• Place / Publishing House: University Park, PA : : Penn State University Press, , [2021]; ©2011
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (312 p.)

The resurgence of the Left in Latin America over the past decade has been so notable that it has been called "the Pink Tide." In recent years, regimes with leftist leaders have risen to power in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Uruguay, and Venezuela. What does this trend portend for the deepening of democracy in the region? Benjamin Goldfrank has been studying the development of participatory democracy in Latin America for many years, and this book represents the culmination of his empirical investigations in Brazil, Uruguay, and Venezuela. In order to understand why participatory democracy has succeeded better in some countries than in others, he examines the efforts in urban areas that have been undertaken in the cities of Porto Alegre, Montevideo, and Caracas. His findings suggest that success is related, most crucially, to how nationally centralized political authority is and how strongly institutionalized the opposition parties are in the local arenas.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Figures -- Tables -- Acknowledgments -- Acronyms -- Overview -- 1 Democracy, Participation, and Decentralization -- 2 A Tale of Three Cities -- 3 Caracas: Scarce Resources, Fierce Opposition, and Restrictive Design -- 4 Montevideo: From Rousing to Regulating Participation -- 5 Porto Alegre: Making Participatory Democracy Work -- 6 Stronger Citizens, Stronger State? -- Conclusion: The Diffusion of Participatory Democracy and the Rise of the Left -- Bibliography -- Index