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This article provides an overview of the early uses of the term democracy in Spain and in Hispanic America during the 19th century. It is mainly built on the collaborative research conducted in the region in the field of conceptual history in recent years, especially on the publications of the Iberconceptos network. By grouping all the Spanish-speaking countries of the Western Hemisphere into a single block, my comparative approach is schematic, for it is clear that this part of the world is far from being a homogeneous sociopolitical space. Even so, the contrast between the two poles – Spain and Latin America – has proved to be heuristically productive, since it enables us to identify certain similarities and differences between the respective conceptualizations and practices associated with democracy that occurred on both sides of the Atlantic between 1808 and 1875, approximately. From some common features, patterns and milestones that this essay reveals it is possible to draw a schematic chronology that could serve as a general framework to subsequent more specific historical studies on the evolution of the concept of democracy in this or that particular country belonging to this cultural area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the influence of populism on democratic quality in Latin America. It draws on findings of qualitative work on this question as well as a theoretical framework by Cas Mudde and Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser to test whether the assumptions and results of both are applicable in a comparative study. It is expected that populist actors have a negative impact on democratic quality when they are in government, but that they positively influence democratic quality when they are in opposition, where they can function as a corrective. Further, it is expected that these effects vary depending on the level of consolidation. A linear mixed-effects model and data from eighteen Latin American countries in the period 1995–2009 was used to evaluate the hypotheses. Generally, it was found that populist actors in opposition have a large positive influence on democratic quality and that populist actors in government have a negative influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of social violence in Latin America has stood at the periphery of cross-national research despite the region being one of the most violent in the contemporary world. This article provides a comprehensive review of theories of crime and presents an empirical analysis of social violence in Latin America from 1980 to 2010. The literature often emphasizes one theoretical approach over others and existing explanations are seen as competitive rather than complementary. Yet, the empirical findings of this study support different explanations and illustrate how considering different theoretical approaches helps improve our knowledge on social violence phenomena. The results from different estimation methods reveal that youth bulges, female workforce, and post-conflict states are positively associated with social violence, as measured by homicide rates. The results also show that states’ efforts to strengthen judicial system capacity and increase school attendance can promote peace. Moreover, while drug producers and/or transit countries are not systematically related to social violence, money-laundering countries experience higher homicide rates, suggesting that not all dimensions of drug-markets increase violence. Whereas Latin America as a whole has experienced few episodes of civil wars in the past decades, the findings suggest that several factors affecting the onset of civil wars also influence other forms of non-political violence such as social violence. This echoes earlier calls in the literature on the necessity of bridging conflict and criminology research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the political determinants of foreign direct investment (FDI) across 15 Latin American countries from 1986 to 2006. In contrast to existing scholarship, we focus on the causes of investment by economic sector-primary resources, manufacturing, and services. Additionally, a regional focus on Latin America helps to control for omitted variables by comparing relatively similar countries. We find substantial variation in the causes and characteristics of FDI across sector. Specifically, manufacturing investment is volatile and attracted to less democratic regimes. In contrast, investment in primary resources privileges greater democracy and property rights protection, while FDI in services is associated with public fiscal responsibility. These results yield important theoretical and practical implications for scholars and policymakers throughout the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]