"[A] refreshing book that tackles the study of democracy from a realistic perspective.... provides a rich theoretical analytical framework which will enable researchers to approach highly relevant topics like the persistence of clientelism within democratic regimes as well as the political logic of populist success in more nuanced ways."—Saskia P. Ruth-Lovell, Democratization

"Foweraker's wide-ranging analytical review and proposed conceptual framework is an intellectual tour de force. His book provides an alternative perspective to excessively reductionist and decontextualized analyses of Latin American political institutions.” —Jonathan Hartlyn, Latin American Politics and Society

"A highly innovative and successful attempt to reshape our thinking about democracy in general and Latin American political systems in particular.... Foweraker captures the contending oligarchic and democratic elements in 'democratic' political systems and directs us to explore the formation of these systems in the context of the interaction of state, regime, and civil society."—Evelyne Huber, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

"An original, well-organized, and intellectually coherent volume that covers a wide range of debates with analytical rigor and a punchy style.... It will be recognized as a major contribution to our understanding of the nature of political regimes in Latin America."—Maxwell Cameron, University of British Columbia