Authoritarianism and democracy play out differently in the United States of North America and Andean America. This essay collection deals with the interaction of authoritarianism and popular democracy in the Andean countries. Marta Irurozqui’s highly theoretical introduction orients the reader to the various and uneven chapters that follow, which do not give a coherent view of Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia two centuries ago. For example, whereas Cecilia Méndez (working on Iquichanos in Huanta, Ayacucho, Peru) praises Tristan Platt’s introduction of the idea of the estado tributario to understand the relationships between government and the Andean ayllu in northern Potosí, Rossana Barragán (working on Bolivia) revises the idea of the tributary state in order to emphasize “el estado pactante,” or government that makes deals or “pacts” with the citizenry.
Méndez’s chapter follows on her recent book (The Plebeian Republic: The Huanta Rebellion and the Making of the Peruvian...
