UNU Update: New book on democracy in Latin America

	UNU Update
	The newsletter of United Nations University and its network of research and training centres and programmes
		Issue 15: March - April 2002

New book examines democratic
transition in Latin America

The journey to meaningful democracy in Latin America is not complete, according to the authors of a new book from UNU Press. They argue that although the norm of democracy is becoming embedded in regional and national politics, the fundamental prerequisite of democracy – the existence of a polity or "political society" – is still weak and under threat.

Democracy in Latin America: (Re)Constructing Political Society, edited by Manuel Antonio Garretón and Edward Newman, examines democratic transition and consolidation in post-authoritarian and post civil war Latin America. A range of issues are embraced: dealing with past abuses of human rights by balancing justice and reconciliation; integrating societies into global market economics, with the resulting social and political impact; the manner in which external actors such as the United Nations, international financial institutions, and multinational corporations have conditioned or facilitated democracy; the role of civil society; the problems of achieving a sense of citizenship in many communities; the indigenous issue; and the pervading gap between the procedure and the substance of democracy.

Manuel Antonio Garretón is Professor of Sociology at the University of Chile and Edward Newman is an Academic Programme Associate of the Peace and Governance Programme at the United Nations University.

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