What is the distinctive trait of the Latin American pattern of modernization? In contrast to western societies, where the debate on modernization has been dominated by the Weberian thematic of bureaucratiz-ation, the most salient feature of the Latin American developmental path is the chronic frailty of legal-constitutional arrangements. In Latin America, the process of modernization and social differentiation has not been followed by the legal stabilization of social complexity but is characterized by a low degree of juridification and institutional precariousness. Drawing on insights from both Luhmann's and Habermas' theories, the article provides a critical theoretical framework for the study of the peculiarities of the Latin American modernizing path.
Arato, Andrew (1993) `Critical Theory and Authoritarian State Socialism', in From Neo-Marxism to Democratic Theory. Essays on the Critical Theory of Soviet-Type Societies. Armonk: M. E. Sharpe.
2.
Cardoso, F. H. (1972) Estado y Sociedad en América Latina. Buenos Aires: Nueva Visión.
3.
Cardoso, F. H. and Faletto, Enzo (1979) Dependency and Development in Latin America. Berkeley: University of California Press.
4.
Chalmers, Douglas A. (1977) `The Politicized State in Latin America', in James Malloy (ed.) Corporatism and Authoritarianism in Latin America. Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh University Press.
5.
Cohen, Jean and Arato, Andrew (1992) Civil Society and Political Theory. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
6.
Collier, David (1979) The New Authoritarianism in Latin America. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
7.
Da Matta, Roberto (1989) `A Propósito de Microescenas y Macrodramas: Notas sobre el Problema del Espacio y del Poder en Brasil', Nueva Sociedad104.
8.
Feher, Ferenc and Heller, Agnes (1987) Eastern Left, Western Left. Totalitarianism, Freedom and Democracy. New Jersey: Humanities Press.
9.
Frank, Andre Gunder (1969) Capitalism and Underdevelopment in Latin America. New York: Monthly Review Press.
10.
Germani, Gino (1979) Política y Sociedad en una Epoca de Transición. Buenos Aires: Paidós.
11.
Habermas, Jürgen (1985) Legitimation Crisis. Boston: Beacon Press.
12.
Habermas, Jürgen (1987) The Theory of Communicative Action. Volume II. Boston: Beacon Press.
13.
Holmes, Stephen (1982) `Translator's Introduction', in N. Luhmann, The Differentiation of Society. New York: Columbia University Press.
14.
Holmes, Stephen (1988) `Precommitment and the Paradox of Democracy', in Jon Elster and Rune Slagstad (eds) Constitutionalism and Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
15.
Horowitz, I. L. (1969) `The Norm of Illegitimacy: The Political Sociology of Latin America', in I. L. Horowitz (ed.) Latin American Radicalism. New York: Vintage Press.
16.
Huntington, Samuel (1968) Political Order in Changing Societies. New Haven: Yale University Press.
17.
Huntington, Samuel (1976) No Easy Choice: Political Participation in Developing Countries. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
18.
Klaren, P. F. and Bossert, T. (1986) Promise of Development. Theories of Change in Latin America. Boulder: Westview Press.
19.
Kling, Merle (1968) `Toward a Theory of Power and Political Instability in Latin America', in J. Petras and M. Zeitlin (eds) Latin America: Reform or Revolution?Greenwich: Fawcett Press.
20.
Lechner, Norbert (1977) `La Crisis del Estado en América Latina', Revista Mexicana de Sociología39(2): 389-426.
21.
Linz, Juan and Stephan, Alfred (1978) The Breakdown of Democratic Regimes, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
22.
Lipset, S. M. (1959) Political Man. New York: Doubleday.
23.
Luhmann, Niklas (1982) The Differentiation of Society. New York: Columbia University Press.
24.
Luhmann, Niklas (1985) A Sociological Theory of Law. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
25.
Luhmann, Niklas (1990) Essays on Self-Reference. New York: Columbia University Press.
26.
Malloy, James and Seligson, Mitchell (1987) Authoritarians and Democrats. Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh University Press.
27.
Neumann, Franz (1957) The Democratic and the Authoritarian State. New York: Free Press.
28.
O'Donnell, Guillermo (1977) `Estado y Alianzas en la Argentina, 1956-76', Desarrollo Económico16(64): 523-554.
29.
O'Donnell, Guillermo (1979) Modernization and Bureaucratic-Authoritariansim. Berkeley: IIS.
30.
O'Donnell, Guillermo (1982) El Estado Burocrático Autoritario. Triunfos, Derrotas y Crisis. Buenos Aires: Editorial de Belgrano.
31.
O'Donnell, Guillermo (1993) `Acerca del Estado, La Democratización y Algunos Problemas Conceptuales', Desarrollo Económico33(130): 163-183.
32.
O'Donnell, Guillermo (1994) `Delegative Democracy?', Journal of Democracy5(1): 55-69.
33.
O'Donnell, Guillermo (1996) `Illusions about Consolidation', Journal of Democracy7(2): 34-51.
34.
O'Donnell, Guillermo , Schmitter, P. C. and Whitehead, L. (1986) Transitions From Authoritarian Rule. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
35.
Offe, Claus (1985) Contradictions of the Welfare State. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
36.
Offe, Claus (1987) `The Utopia of Zero-Option Modernity and Modernization as Normative Political Criteria', Praxis International7(1): 1-24.
37.
Ozslak, Oscar (1984) `Privatización Autoritaria y Recreación de la Escena Pública', in Proceso, Crisis y Transición Democrática, vol. 1. Buenos Aires: Centro Editor de América Latina.
38.
Peruzzotti, Enrique (1993) `The Weimarization of Argentine Politics and State Autonomy', Thesis Eleven34: 126-140.
39.
Peruzzotti, Enrique (1996a) `The Nature of the New Argentine Democracy. The Delegative Democracy Argument Revisited'. Paper presented at the Latin American Studies Luncheon Seminar Series, Cornell University, 3 December 1996 (A Spanish version appeared in Ecuador/Debates 42).
40.
Peruzzotti, Enrique (1996b) Civil Society and Constitutionalism in Latin America. PhD dissertation, Sociology Department, New School for Social Research.
41.
Peruzzotti, Enrique (1997) `Civil Society and the Modern Constitutional Complex. The Argentine Experience', Constellations. An International Journal of Critical and Democratic Theory3(1): 94-104.
42.
Portantiero, Juan Carlos (1989) `La Múltiple Transformación del Estado Latinoamericano', Nueva Sociedad104.
43.
Rapoport, David C. (1962) `A Comparative Theory of Military and Political Types of Polities', in S. Huntington (ed.) Changing Patterns of Military Politics. New York: Free Press.
44.
Roxborough, Ian (1979) Theories of Underdevelopment. London: Macmillan.
45.
Schmitt, Carl (1976) The Concept of the Political. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.
46.
Schmitt, Carl (1982) Teoría de la Constitución. Madrid: Alianza Editorial.
47.
Schmitter, Philippe (1995) `Transitology: The Art or Science of Democratization?', in J. Tulchin (ed.) The Consolidation of Democracy in Latin America. Boulder: Lynne Rienner.
48.
Silvert, K. H.1961. `Liderazgo Político y Debilidad Institucional en Argentina', Desarrollo Económico1(3): 155-181.
49.
Teubner, Gunther (1983) `Substantive and Reflexive Elements in Modern Law', Law & Society Review17(2): 239-272.
50.
Teubner, Gunther (ed.) (1987) Juridification of Social Spheres. Berlin: De Gruyter.
51.
Teubner, Gunther (ed.) (1988) Dilemmas of Law in the Welfare State. Berlin: De Gruyter.
52.
Teubner, Gunther (1993) Law as an Autopoietic System. Cambridge: Basil Blackwell.
53.
Torre, Juan Carlos (1994) `America Latina, el Gobierno de la Democracia en Tiempos Difíciles', Instituto Torcuato Di Tella, Documento de Trabajo 122.
54.
Touraine, Alain (1989) América Latina. Política y Sociedad. Madrid: Espasa Calpe.
55.
Unger, R. M. (1976) Law in Modern Society. New York: Free Press.
56.
Weffort, Francisco (1992) Qual Democracia?Sao Paulo: Paz e Terra.
57.
Weffort, Francisco (1993) `What is a New Democracy?', International Social Science Journal136.
58.
Whitehead, Laurence (1993) `The Alternatives to Liberal Democracy: A Latin American Perspective', in D. Held (ed.) Prospects for Democracy. Cambridge: Polity Press.
