«Classifying Regimes in Latin America

Mainwaring Study Questions

1. What are the elements in these authors' definition of democracy?
2. How is it different (if at all) from O'Donnell's, and whose definition do you find more convincing?
3. What important component/s of the definition do they argue is/are MISSING from subminimal definitions (like that of Przeworski or Polity IV)? Do you agree that things like respect for civil rights and effective civilian control should be part of the definition, or is democracy just about how we pick our leaders?
4. What are the consequences of having a subminimal definition?
5. Note the treatment of the franchise; should our standards for evaluating democracies change over time or are we just apologizing for the exclusion of women?
6. What is the general trend in Latin America, can you identify less and more democratic periods in the region as a whole? If so, what are they?
7. Does it make sense to talk about semi-democracies, or is that (as some have argued) like being semi-pregnant?