"Martin, a leading authority in the sociology of religion, here looks at a recent and largely unstudied phenomenon: the rapid growth of evangelicalism in Latin America, in Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Central America, and the Caribbean. This growth is compared to similar growth in South Korea and Africa. Martin discusses spiritual gifts and conversions in terms of the changing socioeconomic situation, carefully analyzing the relationship of Anglo-American and Latin American cultures. He notes especially the appeal of Pentecostalism to the newly urbanized poor, to whom it provides a nonintellectual style and a protective network where skills in self-expression and leadership can be developed. An excellent scholarly analysis that is accessible to the average reader and provides a good bibliography as well ..."--C. Robert Nixon, M.L.S., Lafayette, Ind. Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Hofman, a researcher with the Chile-based Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, uses growth accounting methods and previously unavailable long-term series data to assess the economic performance of the region during the century from a comparative and historical perspective. In particular he compares Latin American economies to those of advanced capitalist economies, to newly industrialized economies, and to Spain and Portugal because of the historical ties. He looks at the reasons for the poor or negative growth during the 1980s and the apparent recovery in the 1990s and at such problems as debt, income inequality, high inflation, cyclical instability, and political and policy instability. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1967.

Between Tyranny and Anarchy provides a unique comprehensive history and interpretation of efforts to establish democracies over two centuries in the major Latin American countries. Drake takes an unusual interdisciplinary approach, combining history and political science with an emphasis on political institutions. He argues that, without a thorough examination of the historical roots and causes of Latin American democracy, most general theories can not adequately explain its failures, successes, and forms. Latin America offers an extraordinary laboratory for the study of democratic experiments. Alongside a well-deserved reputation for authoritarianism, it boasts one of the world's deepest, richest histories of democratic movements, ideas, and institutions. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the region's leading democracies did not lag very far behind the United States and Western Europe in making numerous advances. In comparison with those countries, though, Latin America's democratic history has been distinctive because of its fundamental dilemma: how to reconcile political systems theoretically committed to legal equality with societies divided by extreme socio-economic inequalities.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1974.

First Published in 1994. Volume 6 in the 7-volume series titled Essays on Mexico, Central and South America: Scholarly Debates from the 1950s to the 1990s. The central scholarly articles concern interstate peace along with a U.S. propensity to intervene, and international structural vulnerabilities and economic asymmetries along with the significance of elite skills and choices. This title recognises that scholars have paid more attention to international economics in Latin America and seeks to balance the range study.