Democracy's stability in Chile and Mexico may depend as much, or more critically, on the transformation of social structure and social life induced by the imposition of free market policies in the 1970s and 1980s. This book demonstrates how rural societal transformations induced by free markets support national democratic consolidation. Although existing research has often examined the effect of democratic politics on the process of economic reform, it has avoided analyzing how free market reforms are connected to the process of democratic consolidation.
Contents
Acknowledgements; Part I. The Framework and Theoretical Argument: 1. Posing the right questions; 2. The sectoral foundations of free market democracy; Part II. The Cases: 3. Neoliberalism and the transformation of rural society in Chile; 4. Social capital, organization, political participation and democratic competition in Chile; 5. The consolidation of free market democracy and Chilean electoral competition, 1988–2000; 6. Markets and democratization in Mexico: rural politics between Corporatism and Neoliberalism; Part III. Conclusions and Implications: 7. Political competitiveness, organized interests, and the democratic market; References; Index.
Prize Winner
CHOICE Outstanding Academic Titles, 2005
Reviews
"Cogently argued, drawn from wide social science analytical perspectives, and complete with an extensive bibliography, Kurtz's book is a valuable contribution to Latin American studies. A truly fine piece of academic analysis...Essential." J.A. Rhodes, Luther College, Choice
"...this book makes an important contribution to the study of democratization and the political economy of market reforms. It merits close reading by those concerned with both." - The Americas, Mark Eric Williams, Middlebury College
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