The fourth edition of this highly regarded text has been completely revised and updated to reflect the complex political and economic developments that have occurred in Latin America in the 1990s. In the new introductory section, Wiarda and Kline emphasize the trend toward elected, democratic governments while underlining the difficulties of establishing democracy in a region still characterized by inequitable distribution of income, the legacy of large debts, and violence stemming from the drug trade. Exploring the patterns of political development, they also discuss the dynamics of political behavior and examine the tensions between those who favor a political regime in keeping with the authoritarian past and those who are working to establish democracy.In the second section of the book, distinguished experts on the region present thoroughly up-to-date analyses of each of the South American, Central American, and Caribbean countries. In the final section, the editors offer their conclusions about the promise and pitfalls of democracy in the region.