Creative Destruction?: Economic Crises and Democracy in Latin America

"In this innovative volume Francisco Gonzalez has set out a bold comparative framework aimed at explaining how severe international economic shocks and downturns can feed into the destabilization of liberal democratic regimes. Although the core of his evidence is drawn from the 'southern cone' of Latin America (comparing the 1930s with the 1980s) his framework generates a broader understanding. It can be applied to well-established and 'developed' democracies as well as to other, perhaps more precarious, South American counterparts. And it can be extended to the global economic crisis that began in 2008 and that has yet to run its course. Moreover, although appropriately cautious about extrapolation from the past, Gonzalez highlights some provisional grounds for anticipating that liberal democracies may emerge successfully from the current severe economic setback."

"González persuasively argues that structural changes to democratic governments have imporved the changes that they will survive hard times. The book raises fascinating questions about the connection between financial crises and innovation, and the possibility that economic turmoil may further strengthen democracy."

"González's book is a serious attempt to understand the complex processes of political and economic change in Chile and Mexico. It is worth reading, and opens up an important debate about authoritarian rule and its pernicious consequences."

"Analytically sophisticated and heavily documented with an extensive bibliography. It belongs in all college and university libraries."