Employing a framework that focuses on the actions and choices of elites in creating consolidated democracies, a distinguished group of scholars examines Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Portugal, Spain, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Without ignoring the roles of mass publics and institutions, the authors conclude that in independent states with long records of political instability and authoritarian rule, democratic consolidation requires the achievement of elite "consensual unity"--that is, agreement among all politically important elites on the worth of existing democratic institutions and respect for democratic rules-of-the-game, coupled with increased "structural integration" among those elites.

Preface; 1. Introduction: Elite transformations and democratic regimes Michael Burton, Richard Gunther and John Higley; 2. Spain: the very model of the modern elite settlement Richard Gunther; 3. Elite settlements and democratic consolidation: Colombia, Costa Rica and Venezuela John A. Peeler; 4. Mexico's elite settlement: conjuncture and consequences Alan Knight; 5. Elite unification and democratic consolidation in Italy: an historical overview Maurizio Cotta; 6. The role of civil-military pacts in elite settlements and elite convergences: democratic consolidation in Uruguay Charles Guy Gillespie; 7. Patterns of elite negotiation and confrontation in Argentina and Chile Marcelo Cavarozzi; 8. Elites in an unconsolidated democracy: Peru during the 1980s Henry Hietz; 9. Brazil's political transition Thomas Bruneau; 10. Redefining the Portuguese transition to democracy Lawrence S. Graham; 11. The Dominican case Peter Sanchez; 12. Elites and democratic consolidation in Latin America and Southern Europe: an overview Michael Burton, Richard Gunther and John Higley.