Undoing Democracy

The Politics of Electoral Caudillismo

David Close, Kalowatie Deonandan

• Publisher: Lexington Books
• Year: 2004
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9780739129999
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Democracy
• Index: Politics & International Relations

In an effort to understand how and why democratically elected governments evade the limitations that democratic accountability and popular participation place on them, Undoing Democracy examines how democratic rule was undermined in Nicaragua in the 1990's. David Close and Kalowatie Deonandan focus their analysis on the pact struck between the country's two main parties, the Liberals and the Sandinistas, which allowed the passage of the constitutional amendments that weakened Nicaragua's basic political institutions. The authors also consider, in detail, the country's political economy as well as the roles played by civil society, the Catholic Church, and NGOs. Undoing Democracy will sharpen our understanding of democratic transition and consolidation, and will serve as an important contribution to the literature on Nicaragua, Latin American politics, and democratization.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Preface and Acknowledgments
• 1 Undoing Democracy in Nicaragua
• 2 Parties and Pacts in Contemporary Nicaragua1
• 3 The Assault on Pluralism
• 4 Aleman's War on the NGO community1
• 5 Unholy Alliance: Church and the State in Nicaragua (1996-2002)
• 6 Violence and Personal Insecurity: The Alemiin Administration's Authoritarian Respons*
• 7 Patrimonialism and Economic Policy in the Aleman Administration
• 8 The External Debt of Nicaragua and the Aleman Liberal Administration: Images and Realities*
• 9 President Bolanos Runs a Reverse, or How Arnoldo Alemlan Wound Up in Prison
• 10 The Caudillo is Dead: Long Live the Caudillo
• Works Cited
• Index
• About the Contributors