Dictating Democracy: Guatemala and the End of Violent Revolution (review)

Rachel M. McCleary, professor of international studies at Johns Hopkins University, and a newcomer to the field of Guatemalan studies, seeks to explain Guatemala's transition from authoritarian to democratic government. Intrigued by President Jorge Serrano Elías's autogolpe in May 1993, McCleary initiated her research with a Fulbright grant in 1994, determined to discover how Guatemalans engineered a transition from authoritarianism to democracy. McCleary concluded that "an elite settlement took place among the organized private sector, the military, and the leaders of some popular organizations" (p. 3). This rare political occurrence established the basis for political stability and the consolidation of a democratic government.

In defense of her methodological focus on elite behavior, McCleary argues that an elite settlement, in which there is a basic agreement on the "rules of the game," is a precondition for political stability under a democratic regime. If the elites fail to reach agreement, the consolidation of democracy would be impossible. According to McCleary, "analysis of elites is critical to understanding the consolidating of democracy because elites continue to play pivotal roles in the institutionalization of rules and roles that circumscribe competition and conflict" (p. 3).

Access to Guatemala's elites is the essential prerequisite for any analysis of their behavior, and McCleary had unprecedented cooperation from key decision-makers in Guatemala's transition to democracy. McCleary interviewed or corresponded with military officers, private sector leaders, and government officials, including Brigadier General Otto Pérez Molina, Brigadier General Héctor Alejandro Gramajo, Pedro Miguel Lamport, Alvaro Castillo Monge, and Jorge Serrano Elias. To get these elites to talk on the record is a testament to either McCleary's powers of persuasion or her ideological affinity with the elites whom she studies. As one who has written about, interviewed, and studied the Guatemalan private sector, this reviewer can confirm that the economic elites are understandably reluctant to discuss their business with any researcher. Somehow, McCleary convinced generals to talk on the record. She also gained the trust of the private sector and gained access to the officials, correspondence, and documentation of the notoriously secretive Comité Coordinador de Asociaciones Agrícolas, Comerciales, Industriales, y Financieras (CACIF) and other private sector organizations and individuals.

One welcome result of McCleary's impressive research is an analysis of what took place behind the scenes during the tumultuous days that followed Serrano's autogolpe of May 1993. McCleary narrates the tense and often confrontational meetings that took place among the elite groups. We learn of Serrano's vain attempts to bribe and threaten his way through a political coup, intimating that blood would flow in the streets if his political program were not implemented. We learn of political intrigue and divisions within the officer corps, and the factors that eventually compelled the military to force Serrano out of office. Not all of this political history is new, but it is told here with such authority that one is persuaded to accept the veracity of McCleary's account and her conclusions.

There is little doubt that military officers, political leaders, and economic elites played pivotal roles during Guatemala's transition to democracy. Yet, one must question how democracy can be consolidated through a fundamentally anti-democratic process. Elitist and dictatorial political behavior is nothing new to Guatemala, but democracy is. If Guatemala's democracy was consolidated solely in the manner described by McCleary, perhaps we should question how much power and influence popular groups and average citizens enjoy in this new democracy. Because McCleary's analysis does not include a study of the popular struggle for democracy, an important piece of the story is missing. Nevertheless, Dictating Democracy is an informative and insightful book that helps to explain how and why Guatemala's elites finally accepted the necessity of democratization in 1993.