The language of democracy served an important performative function in public debates in Argentina, Chile, and Peru between 1830 and 1860. These newly independent republics invoked the idea of democracy both to legitimize and undermine contested political norms in the construction of new political systems. Arguments about the meaning of democracy were central to the struggle to define the social, ethnic, and racial contours of emerging Latin American nations.
Paula Alonso is Associate Professor of History and International Affairs at George Washington University. She is the author of Between Revolution and the Ballot Box: The Origins of the Argentine Radical Party in the 1890s and many other works. She is currently writing a new book on the history of Argentina.
Part of our winter 2023 lecture series, "Building a Civil Society."