Wiarda provides a new edition of a pioneering exploration of Latin American political culture, the autoritarian tradition, and the recent transitions to democracy and the special meaning of that term in the Latin American context.||The volume contains a provocative Introduction and Conclusion by the editor as well as essays by leading scholars of Latin American politics and history: Richard Morse, Octavio Paz, Glen Dealy, Peter Smith, and others. This is a classic collection, newly revised and updated.