States, elites, and inequality in Latin America

Abstract

In this article, I review the literature on elites and inequality in Latin America with a focus on the emergence of uneven state structures and how they came to foster the needs of elites for protection. States in Latin America are traditionally thought of as facilitating processes of top-down modernization that transformed traditional agrarian economies into complex urban polities, while maintaining extreme inequal-

State Segmentation and Democratic Survival in Latin America

“…After transitions, the new Latin American democracies inherited much of the repressive apparatus of previous autocratic rule (López, 2018). Consequently, these new democracies distribute citizenship in uneven ways, in what can be called state segmentation.…”

“…Although state segmentation benefits elites, the implication is not that states are segmented by design, nor that state actors and elites always converge. Segmented states more likely result from contingent historical processes anchored in authoritarianism (López, 2018). For the present argument, what is crucial is that segmented states, once in place, modify the incentives that elites are likely to perceive regarding democratic rule.…”

Protest Issues and Political Inequality in Latin America

“…They represent 25% of the protests reported. Nowadays, most Latin American countries have democratic or semidemocratic regimes, yet the quality of democracy is often low, and public institutions are weak and inefficient (M. López, 2018; Mainwaring & Pérez-Liñán, 2013).…”

“…Second, while these studies refer to Europe, we explore protest elitization in Latin America. Latin America not only has deep and persistent economic inequalities (Hoffman & Centeno, 2003;M. López, 2018) but also showcases both popular (Rice, 2012;Silva, 2009) and middle-class social movements (Disi, 2017;Svampa, 2008).…”

“…They represent 25% of the protests reported. Nowadays, most Latin American countries have democratic or semidemocratic regimes, yet the quality of democracy is often low, and public institutions are weak and inefficient (M. López, 2018;Mainwaring & Pérez-Liñán, 2013). There are many recent examples of Latin American authorities that have committed electoral irregularities and fraud, attempted to change the constitution to allow presidential reelection, accepted bribes or illegal donations for funding electoral campaigns, governed by decree, or manipulated official statistics for embellishing their administrations.…”