Elusive Reform: Democracy and the Rule of Law in Latin America by Mark Ungar (review)

120 The Latin Americanist 9 Fall 2004 The book is well written and provides fascinating detail about the complexities of the triangular relationship between the United States government, U.S. business, and Latin American governments.The relationshipwas marked by mutual distrust and an obsession with political order and profit (the issue of democracy , not surprisingly,never seemed to enter anyone’s minds). The only drawback to an otherwise fascinating work is a tendency toward hyperbole. Given the many US.-sponsored imbroglios, it is hard to accept the argument that “In the history of American expansion, the case of the San Domingo Improvement Company is unparalleled”(14).Veeser also gives short shrift to the 1902Venezuela conflict, which is most often cited as the primary source of the Roosevelt Corollary. This lack of context seems to suggest that Roosevelt’s reaction to European aggression toward Venezuela was relatively minor in the developmentof the Roosevelt Corollary. Veeser’s point that the Dominican case is understudied may be true, but that need not mean that all other cases should suddenly pale in comparison. Finally, despite the title, the book does not address America’s rise to “global power,” but rather its rise to dominance in the western hemisphere. Nonetheless , the book is an interesting and intricate account of how Dollar Diplomacy worked in practice and how, over time, it went terribly wrong. Gregory Weeks Universityof North Carolinaat Charlotte Elusive Reform: Democracy and the Rule of Law in Latin America. By Mark Ungar. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers , 2002. 271p. $55.00. Since the 1980s but especially in the 1990s, democracy was often touted as the cure all for all societal and political problems , the answer to persistent problems of misrule and economic stagnation. The difficulty is that democracy is a process, not an end state since states that were once democracies can revert to authoritarianism and social chaos. What has to be put in place are the institutional reforms that make democratic rule possible but, more critically, the population and officeholders must come to accept democratic processes as how decisions should be made and enforced. This occurs “‘when a strong majority’of the people believes ‘that democratic procedures and institutions are the most Book Reviews 121 appropriate way to govern collective life in a country such as theirs.”’ (233). Professor Mark Ungar is exploring this important question for Latin America generally but with particular focus on Bolivia, Argentina, and Venezuela. All of these states are struggling with regards to their efforts to establish the rule of law. The rule of law is considered fundamental for a flourishing or even marginal democracy because the rule of law means the state itself and its functionaries accept that the law applies to them as much as it does to the population. The analysis tracks a general historical overview of the concept of rule of law, the historical patterns within Latin America, and then focuses more specifically on the three states. The historical analyses are very well done especially when considering the problem of police involvement within the structure of the state and society. Police lawlessness directly undermines any attempts at democracy since the general public comes to fear or loath the police as the instruments of repression rather than enforcer of the law in an equitable manner. The difficulties within Latin America in part reflects the heritage of the former Spanish Empire with its authoritarian tradition, revolution threw out the Spanish but did not impact the indigenous elites who found the earlier traditions extremely useful for protecting their positions within the state. But, after two hundred years, those entrenched patterns are slowly beginning to be broken. Progress however remains slow and the societies can no longer handle the strains and inequalities in the old manner. What this analysis demonstrates is the fragile nature of democracy and its processes. Cynicism and repeated disappointments wash away the support within the society. For Latin America , the status quo must change but how to change peacefully and relatively quickly remains a mystery for many societies. Professor Ungar’s work ended just as the Chavez administration took office in Venezuela so that what the author is describing are the social and political...