Editor’s introduction

The distribution of rural power in developing countries both shapes and is shaped by national politics. This volume addresses the question of why rural democratisation has proven to be so difficult across a wide range of national experiences. Transitions to elected civilian rule have recently been welcomed throughout the developing world, largely though not exclusively in Latin America. However, the relationship between such initial transitions and the longer-term consolidation of democratic systems of governance is far from clear. Elected civilian rulers have frequently failed to promote increased governmental accountability to the rural citizenry. While the implications are especially serious for countries with majority rural populations, authoritarian rural elites often retain significant political influence in predominantly urban developing countries, such as Brazil and Mexico.