Transitions from Authoritarian Rule

Whatever we call it and whatever its limits, the movement out from under military dictatorships in several Latin American nations has been almost universally welcomed. The change is a &dquo;good thing.&dquo; The establishment of civilian regimes and formal democratic political procedures-most recently in Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay-is a positive development in itself and in that it creates a potential for more far-reaching social and economic progress. In case anyone is disillusioned with what this process of change has accomplished, a quick glance at Chile under Pinochet should provide an ample antidote. Regimes that arise in the wake of dictatorship and repression, however, tend to be highly unstable. Their emergence, the culmination of one period of struggle, is usually but the initiation of a new round of political conflict. In this new conflict, a significant part of the battle is ideological and centers on the question of how to interpret the process by which the new &dquo;democratic&dquo; regime came into being. The way the story gets told sets the terms for the next round of struggle. Transitions from Authoritarian Rule is an ambitious attempt to shape the debate over the way in which authoritarian regimes have given