"Collection of some of the best articles previously published by political scientists on the problems of democracy and development in Latin America highlight the nature of intellectual debate on the subject. Brief introduction by Mattiace and Camp examines the scholarly work on the conditions and variables - political culture and structure, grass-roots democratic practices, and economic crisis management - that are essential to constructing and consolidating a democratic regime. Although useful for providing a historical context on the nature of democracy and development in Latin America, the overall value of the volume is hampered by the absence of an index"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 57.