Transforming Labor-Based Parties in Latin America (review)
Nevertheless, throughout the volume it would have been valuable to have a more thoughtful interrogation of the concept of democracy. For example, the January 21, 2000 coup that removed Jamil Mahuad from office in Ecuador is presented as undermining democratic institutions. Clearly, it was a break in the institutional and constitutional order and a threat to elite interests, but depending on one's interpretations it was not necessarily an "anti-democratic" movement. Similarly, the editors condemn Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez for his "creeping authoritarianism" (p. 273). This characterization, however, does not help explain deep support for his government from previously ignored and marginalized sectors, nor the country's attempts to move from a representative to a participatory and protagonistic model of democracy.