The challenge of rural democratisation: perspectives from Latin America and the Philippines

Addresses the question of why rural democratisation has proven to be so difficult in Latin America, focussing on socio-political processes and institutions more than on specific rural development policies. The studies of Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Bolivia, Nicaragua and the Philippines have three broadly common themes: the relationship between electoral and non-electoral politics, the concept of rural citizenship versus clientelism and the articulation of direct and representative democracy. The studies suggest that the consolidation of democracy in developing countries depends on the rural poor's capacity to gain both power and legitimacy in national politics. Individual papers were abstracted from the original journal. -after Editor