Written for the beginning student, this book provides an assessment of the role of selected population groups in the political development of Latin America. The authors’ major thesis is that “. . . Latin American politics will not change very rapidly because political groups, individually and together, block effective government” (p. x). Their approach is to present “the big picture” geographically and, to a lesser extent, historically, while concentrating on a limited set of substantive issues.
The analytic framework, developed in Chapter One, analyzes political systems in terms of the demands made upon them by the social groups competing for power, resources, and the right to political participation, and the capabilities of governments for meeting these demands. More specifically, the authors concentrate on group orientations toward socioeconomic change as they arc reflected in the political process. Chapters Two through Eight contain discussions of the political significance of seven “social groups,” these being peasants and large landowners, businessmen, urban workers, university students, Roman Catholic clergy, military officers, and bureaucrats. Each chapter presents the socio-historical context, desires and demands, and “system response” characteristic of the group in question. The final chapter summarizes the authors’ assessments of the relative roles played by members of these social categories in Latin American political organization.
In evaluating this volume one must remember its intended audience, the beginning student of Latin American politics. From this perspective the authors have made a useful contribution. The book is well documented, the conceptual framework is consistently adhered to in the substantive chapters, and the argument is clearly articulated throughout. Nevertheless, this reviewer finds the presentation deficient on several counts. First, by attempting to deal with the entirety of Latin America the authors are, indeed must be, superficial in their coverage of individual countries. Any sense of national variations in socio-historical evolution is thus lost, but perhaps this is not so important at the introductory level. Second, the initial chapter introduces a number of complex conceptual issues, e.g., social, political, and economic development, social structure, formal and informal political structures, not altogether satisfactorily. For example, “social structure” is said to imply “. . . the relationship between social classes” (p. 13). Surely the authors do not believe this important concept to be so limited in its implications for political processes. One could easily argue that the normative and structural aspects of family and kinship systems in Latin America have at least equal political significance. Third, the role and consequences of outside intervention and assistance to Latin American governments, particularly by the United States, is emphasized only in the chapter on the military. More extensive treatment would probably have aided the argument.
The foregoing criticisms should not detract from the value of this book as an introduction to Latin American politics, since these deficiencies can be overcome by the instructor as well as through supplementary readings. On balance, Adie and Poitras have written a book that can be usefully employed, not only in political science courses but for those offered in history, sociology, and economics as well.
