Latin American Development From Populism To Neopopulism

Latin American Development from Populism to Neopopulism: A Multidisciplinary Perspective explores the socioeconomic development of Latin America through the periods of populism, military dictatorships, neoliberalism and neopopulism by utilizing a multidisciplinary approach. By analyzing the trends and main socioeconomic structures in each period, von der Heydt-Coca explains the interactions of economic, social, and political spheres. Paradigmatic case studies complement the picture of each period and draw on extensive literature covering economics, history, sociology, and anthropology. Special emphasis is placed on how the world economy constrains the socioeconomic development in the region by examining the influence of international financial organizations and hegemonic countries. Von der Heydt-Coca answers the complex question of why Latin American countries, blessed with a bounty of natural resources and capable of industrialization, could not escape their role as producers and exporters of primary goods.

Contributors to this volume take the long view of populism in Latin America—placing current movements into the context of the past. Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez, Bolivia’s Evo Morales, and Ecuador’s Rafael Correa have brought the subject of Latin American populism once again to the fore of scholarly and policy debate in the region. Latin American Populism in the Twenty-first Century explains the emergence of today’s radical populism and places it in historical context, identifying continuities as well as differences from both the classical populism of the 1930s and 1940s and the neo-populism of the 1990s. Leading Latin American, U.S., and European authors explore the institutional and socioeconomic contexts that give rise to populism and show how disputes over its meaning are closely intertwined with debates over the meaning of democracy. By analyzing the discourse and policies of populist leaders and reviewing their impact in particular countries, these contributors provide a deeper understanding of populism’s democratizing promise as well as the authoritarian tendencies that threaten the foundation of liberal democracy.

This updated edition of Populism in Latin America discusses new developments in populism as a political phenomenon and the emergence of new populist political figures in Mexico, Argentina, and Venezuela in particular. For more than one hundred years—from the beginning of the twentieth to the early twenty-first century—Latin American populists proved amazingly successful at gaining high office, holding on to power, maintaining their followings, and renewing their careers. They raised more campaign money, got more voters to the polls,and held followers’ allegiances far better than traditional politicians. Certainly some populist leaders were corrupt, others manipulated their followers, and still others disgraced themselves. Nevertheless, populist leaders were extraordinarily effective in reaching masses of voters, and some left positive legacies for future generations. Populism in Latin America examines the notion of populism in the political and social culture of Latin American societies as expressed through the populist leaders of several Latin American countries including Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela. This second edition also includes a new preface by Kenneth M. Roberts, professor of comparative and Latin American politics and the Robert S. Harrison Director of the Institute for the Social Sciences at Cornell University. Contributors Jorge Basurto / Michael L. Conniff / Paul W. Drake / Steve Ellner / Joel Horowitz / Kenneth M. Roberts / W. Frank Robinson /Ximena Sosa / Steve Stein / Kurt Weyland

Comparison of the functions performed by populist social movements in the modernization of political systems in Latin America - includes historical backgrounds, and covers political ideology, government policies, social problems, patterns of political leadership, the internal functions of nationalism, interest groups, political partys, etc. Bibliography pp. 220 to 226.

The political and economic history of Latin America has been marked by great hopes and even greater disappointments. Despite abundant resources—and a history of productivity and wealth—in recent decades the region has fallen further and further behind developed nations, surpassed even by other developing economies in Southeast Asia and elsewhere. In Left Behind, Sebastian Edwards explains why the nations of Latin America have failed to share in the fruits of globalization and forcefully highlights the dangers of the recent turn to economic populism in the region. He begins by detailing the many ways Latin American governments have stifled economic development over the years through excessive regulation, currency manipulation, and thoroughgoing corruption. He then turns to the neoliberal reforms of the early 1990s, which called for the elimination of deficits, lowering of trade barriers, and privatization of inefficient public enterprises—and which, Edwards argues, held the promise of freeing Latin America from the burdens of the past. Flawed implementation, however, meant the promised gains of globalization were never felt by the mass of citizens, and growing frustration with stalled progress has led to a resurgence of populism throughout the region, exemplified by the economic policies of Venezuela’sHugo Chávez. But such measures, Edwards warns, are a recipe for disaster; instead, he argues, the way forward for Latin America lies in further market reforms, more honestly pursued and fairly implemented. As an example of the promise of that approach, Edwards points to Latin America's giant, Brazil, which under the successful administration of President Luis Inácio da Silva (Lula) has finally begun to show signs of reaching its true economic potential. As the global financial crisis has reminded us, the risks posed by failing economies extend far beyond their national borders. Putting Latin America back on a path toward sustained growth is crucial not just for the region but for the world, and Left Behind offers a clear, concise blueprint for the way forward.

This volume analyzes how enduring democracy amid longstanding inequality engendered inclusionary reform in contemporary Latin America.

How do the intellectual origins and historical background of western and other theories of development affect their relevance to contemporary Third-World conditions? This is the central question behind Gavin Kitching’s examination of ‘development studies’, first published in 1982, from its origins in the late 1940s through to the contemporary era. While presenting the contemporary ‘radical orthodoxy’ of development studies, Kitching argues that these theories are continuations of much older traditions of populist and neo-populist thought.

The experiences of Chile under Allende and Peru under Garcia illustrate that when populist policies fail they do so at a frightening cost to the very groups they were meant to benefit.