As the experience of Latin America makes clear, a strong civil society is not necessarily a democratic one. Democratic deficits within civil society jeopardize its ability to perform its proper social functions.
About the Author
Alison Brysk, associate professor of political science and chair of international studies at the University of California, Irvine, is the author of The Politics of Human Rights in Argentina (1994) and From Tribal Village to Global Village: Indian Rights and International Relations in Latin America (2000).
Delegative presidencies have not been a problem in post-Pinochet Chile, but the rise of mass protest movements suggests that the country’s new democracy has gone too far in the direction…
For the first time since the fall of Pinochet, the Chilean right has come to power via free elections. The long-ruling center-left coalition leaves behind many achievements, but also disturbing…
