Publications

Update on the Americas - Democratic Governance and the 'New Left' Poverty, Inequality and the New Left in Latin America Author: Nora Lustig This is a research paper, in English, commissioned for the conference, by Argentine economist Nora Lustig, who provides an overview of trends in poverty and inequality throughout Latin America, comparing left and non-left governments, as well as left governments and their non-leftist predecessors in their own countries. Download File (pdf) Desigualdad y pobreza bajo las nuevas izquierdas en América Latina Author: Nora Lustig This is a research paper, in Spanish, commissioned for the conference, by Argentine economist Nora Lustig, who provides an overview of trends in poverty and inequality throughout Latin America, comparing left and non-left governments, as well as left governments and their non-leftist predecessors in their own countries. Download File (pdf) Pobreza, desigualdad y la "nueva izquierda" en América Latina Author: Compilado por Cynthia J. Arnson, José Jara y Natalia Escobar This is a rapporteur's report, in Spanish, of a conference held in Santiago, Chile, and co-sponsored with the Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales, FLACSO-Chile. The December 2008 conference, "Pobreza, desigualdad, y la 'nueva izquierda' en America Latina," included participants from eight countries--Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Uruguay, and Venezuela--who explored trends in poverty and inequality under social democratic and populist left governments. This report is available only in Spanish Download File (pdf) Understanding Populism and Political Participation: The Case of Nicaragua Author: Carlos F. Chamorro, Edmundo Jarquín, and Alejandro Bendaña In recent years, public opinion polls throughout Latin America have identified a great deal of popular dissatisfaction with the institutions of democratic governance and with existing channels of political representation. Last year, the Latin American Program convened the seminar “Understanding Populism and Political Participation” to examine new forms of political participation and state-civil society interaction in Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. This conference sought to understand the extent to which of these countries’ governments had responded to these ‘deficits’ with new or innovative programs, and what the resulting consequence for liberal democracy has been. This bulletin contains the observations of three distinguished analysts of Nicaraguan politics: Carlos F. Chamorro is the editor of the weekly paper Confidencial; economist Edmundo Jarquín, who was the Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS) candidate in the 2006 presidential elections; and Alejandro Bendaña is president of the Center for International Studies. Download File (pdf) Understanding Populism and Political Participation: The Case of Venezuela Author: Luis Vicente León and David Smilde Commissioned as part of the Latin American Program's Project on Democratic Governance and the 'New Left' in Latin America, these papers examine new forms of political participation and state-civil society interaction in Venezuela in the context of debates over participatory versus representative democracy. Download File (pdf) Repoliticizing Latin America: The Revival of Populist and Leftist Alternatives Author: Kenneth M. Roberts This essay explores the dual “fault lines” in Latin American democracy that have contributed to the rise of new popular and leftist movements— namely, the tensions between democratic citizenship and social inequality or exclusion, on the one hand, and the contradictions between democratic governance and the erosion of national sovereignty, on the other. It also examines the diversity of political expressions found within the revival of popular and leftist movements, moving beyond the dichotomous categorization of “radical populist” and “social democratic” subtypes that structures much of the debate on the topic. Download File (pdf) Bolivia: Social Movements, Populism, and Democracy Author: Brooke Larson, Raúl Madrid, René Antonio Mayorga, and Jessica Varat The authors of this publication reflect on the circumstances which have brought Bolivia to this point. Raúl Madrid of the University of Texas-Austin examines the 2005 election of Evo Morales through the lens of ethnic politics and discusses the ways these elections signified a rupture from past electoral processes. René Antonio Mayorga, Centro Boliviano de Estudios Multidisciplinarios (CEBEM), examines the populist dilemmas facing the MAS as it confronts its dual identity as both a social movement and political party at the head of a government. Finally, Brooke Larson of the State University of New York, Stony Brook, charts the historical participation of indigenous groups in Bolivian politics and society and questions to what degree the current administration will be able to address the inequalities that plague the country. Download File (pdf) Bolivia: Social Movements, Populism, and Democracy Author: Brooke Larson, Raul Madrid, Rene Antonio Mayorga, and Jessica Varat Bolivia has become a focal point of the academic discourse on the ‘New Left’ in Latin America and this report aims to explore the dynamic between social movements as governing bodies, the populist rhetoric of Evo Morales’ administration, and the implications for Bolivian democracy. Download File (pdf)

Latin American Program
Woodrow Wilson Center
One Woodrow Wilson Plaza
1300 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20004-3027
Email: lap@wilsoncenter.org
Tel: 202/691-4030