DEMOCRACY IN TIMES OF REVOLUTION

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The study of Latin American politics has always generated great new research

questions, within Latin America, no country's experience has generated more exciting

questions than Venezuela since the election of Hugo Chavez in 1998. Hellinger has created a

groundbreaking resource for teaching Latin American politics from a comparative viewpoint.

His textbook covers the range of political issues facing the area over five centuries,

combining breadth with an in-depth analysis of specific cases. And it does all this in a

language understandable to students and engaging them in critical thinking. Chapter 12 of the

book comparative politics of Latin America; democracy at last by Daniel Hellinger

elaborates on the underlying conditions that have contributed to the rise of armed

insurgencies in Latin America since the Cuban revolution. Throughout Chapter 12, the

informative historical background provides a way for learners to think about how the past

affects the present. Nevertheless, while history plays a role in this text, comparative politics is

the primary focus. Explaining topics such as democratic collapse and change, formal and

informal institutions, the rule of law, and the effects of globalization through fully integrated,

comprehensive case studies and carefully paced research. Country-specific narratives

combine comparative politics principles and hypotheses, contributing to a more in-depth

interpretation of both.

Ellner (2014) argues that esteemed historians of Latin America provide a less

theoretical concept of revolution as "the unexpected, strong, and violent overthrow of a

previously relatively stable society and the replacement of other institutions for the

discredited." Mexico and Cuba's revolutionary upheavals, which are discussed in Chapter 11,

are heavily influenced by nationalism and created long-lashes. We look at more recent

uprisings in chapter 12, which were strongly influenced by nationalism, like these two

revolts. In contrast, as in the case of Cuba, these movements were also inspired by Marxism,

mostly in Central America. Nevertheless, the outcome of these disputes would be

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governments that aspired to polyarchy, unlike these other two situations. Throughout Central

America, then, institutional change came, but to what extent did these regimes answer

democracy and the "economic question?" Does the quenching of revolutionary fires in

Central America mean that the Latin American left no longer dreams of revolution in the

terms defined by Burns and Charlip?

Smilde and Hellinger (2011) concluded that revolutions have two things in common:

they are marked by a struggle for freedom from oppression, and this search for freedom must

be connected to "novelty," that is, an attempt to create a new social order. Such ideas have

been related to the "political problem" since Marx wrote in the mid-1880s, Adrent said; that

is, the proponents of revolution want independence but claim that it cannot be fully achieved

without drastic social and economic changes. The break from imperialism in Latin America

brought about a political revolution followed by brutality and social upheaval, but it would

eventually not count as a revolution in Arendt's defined terms.

In conclusion, chapter 12 and the general book offers a unique combination of the

comparative theory of politics and country-specific interdisciplinary scope, a thematic

structure, and in-depth country case studies, culture and economics, scholarship, and

pedagogy. No other textbook draws on such a wealth of academic literature to help learners

understand the today's ins and outs of Latin America's politics.

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Bibliography

Ellner, Samwel. Latin America's radical: Challenges and complexities of political power in

the twenty-first century. 2014. 122.

Smilde, D., & Hellinger, D. Venezuela's Bolivarian democracy: Participation, politics, and

culture under Chávez. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2011. 176.