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Contributors examine the significance of recent elections in the region and consider questions of US and Soviet influence. Paper edition, $10.95, not seen. Annotation(c) 2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Tabla de contenidos provista por Syndetics

• Introduction From Uncertainty to Uncertainty: The Institutionalization of Elections in Central America(p. 1)
• 1 Elections and Democracy in Central America A Framework for Analysis(p. 7)
• 2 Can Democracy Survive the Democrats? From Transition to Consolidation in Honduras(p. 40)
• 3 El Salvador Recent Elections in Historical Perspective(p. 60)
• 4 The Guatemalan Election of 1985 Prospects for Democracy(p. 93)
• 5 Elections and Transitions The Guatemalan and Nicaraguan Cases(p. 126)
• 6 Ordinary Elections in Extraordinary Times The Political Economy of Voting in Costa Rica(p. 158)
• 7 Democracy and Elections in Central America Autumn of the Oligarchs?(p. 185)
• Contributors(p. 201)
• Index(p. 203)

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Library Journal Review

By 1986 all five Central American countries had popularly elected governments, but the authors, all Central American affairs experts, place this fact in an economic and social context. They evaluate the real amount of democracy and its prospects achieved in each country by examining the breadth and depth of citizen participation and the range of issues debated. Their findings are disheartening; indeed, the elections may be more for foreign effect than for real change at home. Withits refreshing insights along the lines of Edward Herman and Frank Brodhead's Demonstration Elections ( LJ 4/1/84), this is recommended for university and large general collections.-- Louise Leonard, Univ. of Florida Lib., Gainesville (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

Gauging the success of democratization in Third World settings has often been approached from the perspective of elections. Political scientists Booth and Seligson, along with their fellow contributors, present a balanced and thoughtful critique of Central American democracy. Although the transformation of a series of professional papers into a full-length text often leads to a disjointed examination of a topic, the contributors have been careful to link their analysis of the electoral process in Central America with the methodological outline proposed by Booth. Although the authors presented their arguments in terms of agreed-upon definitions of democracy and democratic development, they freely presented their own views on the meaning of elections in Central America. The chapters cover a wide range of interpretations, from a Marxist evaluation of elections in Guatemala and Nicaragua to more traditional survey research analysis of the Costa Rican electorate. The authors agree, however, that, with the exception of Costa Rica, democracy in Central America remains weak, vulnerable, and not worthy of the confidence expressed in White House and State Department pronouncements. As a whole this volume makes a significant contribution to the understanding of an important political transition in a critical area of the world. Upper-division undergraduate and graduate students. M. J. Kryzanek Bridgewater State College