Recorded October 18, 2004
Below is the original description of the event.
Democratization in contemporary Latin America is a complex process. The most common polity throughout the region has become “illiberal” democracy — a form that combines free and fair elections with systematic restrictions on civil liberties. A central question is whether these “illiberal” democracies are likely (a) to endure, (b) to backslide into some version of authoritarianism, or (c) move in a more liberal direction.
Peter H. Smith is Professor of Political Science and Simón Bolívar Professor of Latin American Studies at UC San Diego. He is a specialist on comparative politics, Latin American politics, and U.S.–Latin American relations. Professor Smith has been an affiliate of CLAS since 2003.
-CLAS Working Paper "Cycles of Electoral Democracy in Latin America, 1900-2000" by Peter H. Smith (.pdf file)
-Download paper "The Rise of Illiberal Democracy in Latin America" on which talk is based (.pdf file)