This book's leading goal is to explain why some states in the Americas have been markedly more effective than others at forming stable democratic regimes. The six states analyzed are the United States, Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Costa Rica, and Guatemala. The study identifies the critical challenges each state encountered at different stages of its state-creation and regime- formation processes, from the colonial period to the present. In its concluding chapter, the study presents a series of time-related hypotheses designed to capture the different evolutionary processes and explain variances in success.
1. Chapter One: Introduction-The Nature of the Problem.- 2. Chapter Two: Theories of State Creation and Democratization.- 3. Chapter Three: The Challenges of State-Creation and Democratization in the United States.- 4. Chapter Four: The Challenges of State Creation and Democratization in Mexico.- 5. Chapter Five: The Challenges of State Creation and Democratization in Colombia and Venezuela.- 6. Chapter Six: State Creation and Democratization in Costa Rica and Guatemala.- 7. Chapter Seven: An Exploratory Theory of State Creation and Democratization: The United State, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia Costa Rica and Guatemala.
Alex Roberto Hybel is the Susan Eckert Lynch Emeritus Professor of Government and International Relations at Connecticut College, USA.
