Democracy and dictatorship in continental Latin America during the interwar period

This article emphasizes the key role of labor in shaping trends and pattern s of pica change. The first section of the article argues that during the i nterwar period, continental Latin America experienced common trends in seve ral areas, including a general upsurge in labor unrest, deepening conflicts among elites, the implementation of new modes of state regulation, and a d isruption of prevailing trade arrangements within the world economy, all of which were accompanied by a brief but significant wave of democratization in the 1920s. Noting that these general trends were unevenly distributed th rough the region (particularly after the 1930s), the second section of the article proceeds to abstract four patterns of political arrangements (repre ssive dictatorships, party competition, corporatist nationalism, and unstab le labor politics). The article uses two principal variables (the relative weight of the middle and working classes and the degree of cohesion/fragmen tation among elites) to explain these patterns of political change. Overall , the article suggests that the relative strength of labor and subordinate groups was key to shifts away from repressive dictatorship, while the degre e of convergence among elites was significant in shaping political outcomes , but not in promoting democratic outcomes.