According to Juan Linz and Alfred Stepan (in your reading for April 21), the consolidation of democracy in Latin America depends on five interconnected and reinforcing conditions.

According to Juan Linz and Alfred Stepan (in your reading for April 21), the consolidation of democracy in Latin America depends on five interconnected and reinforcing conditions.

First, the conditions must exist for the development of a free and lively civil society. Second, there must be a relatively autonomous and valued political society. Third, there must be a rule of law to ensure legal guarantees for citizens freedoms and independent associational life. Fourth, there must a state bureaucracy that is usable by the new democratic government. Fifth, there must be an institutionalized economic society.

Please pick at least two of these arenas (civil society, political society, rule of law, state apparatus, and economic society) and write a paper in which you 1) explain how deficiencies in these arenas have undermined democracy, and 2) identify critical changes in these arenas that you believe would advance the pursuit of democratic consolidations. In other words, what conditions have undermined democracy in Latin America and how can democracy be strengthened?

The first arena I choose is the political society. You can choose the second arena that goes well with political society. If not you can pick two arenas that are the best fit.

I’ve also attached a PDF detailing each of the five political arenas.

Students will write 2 drafts of a paper on the same topic (above). The first draft will incorporate readings covered in parts 1 and 2 of the course (using at least 4 sources). The second and final draft of this paper will incorporate 1) comments received on the first draft (from your section leader and student peers), and 2) additional materials from the readings covered in part 3 of the course (incorporating at least 4 additional sources for a total of 8 sources).

Please include the word count under the title that you select for your paper, and please select a title that reflects the substance of your argument and that will draw readers into the paper.

Please use the PDFs I’ve provided since the argument made must come from them. It’s okay to use outside sources, but just make the information being used is mentioned in the PDF readings.

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