This book offers a region-wide overview of the patterns and processes of Latin American history, politics, society, and development. It provides a detailed country-by-country treatment and unique features of all Latin American countries.

Preface to the Fifth Edition -- The Latin American Tradition and Process of Development -- The Context of Latin American Politics -- The Pattern of Historical Development -- Interest Groups and Political Parties -- Government Machinery, The Role of the State, and Public Policy -- The Struggle for Democracy in Latin America -- The Political Systems of South America -- Argentina: Intransigent's Paradise -- Brazil: The Politics of "A New Order and Progress" -- Chile -- Colombia: Drugs, Guerrillas, Death Squads, and U.S. Aid -- Peru: Democratic Forms, Authoritarian Practices -- Venezuela: Shaping the "New Democracy" -- Balancing Growth and Democracy in Uruguay -- Paraguay: Precarious Democracy -- Bolivia: The Construction of a Multiethnic Democracy -- Ecuador: The Fragility of Dependent Democracy -- The Political Systems of Central and Middle America and the Caribbean -- Mexico: From Corporatism to Pluralism? -- Development, Revolution, and Decay in Cuba -- Costa Rica -- Nicaragua: The Politics of Frustration -- El Salvador -- Guatemala: Democratic Rebirth? -- Honduras: The Limits of Democracy1 -- The Dominican Republic: A New Way -- Panama: Beyond Elitist Democracy and Authoritarian Populism in the New Millennium? -- Haiti: The Failure of Governance -- Conclusion: Latin America and the Future -- A Living Laboratory