Revolution and reaction : the diffusion of authoritarianism in Latin America /
Why did so many Latin American leftists believe they could replicate the Cuban Revolution in their own countries, and why did so many rightists fear the spread of Communism? Cognitive psychological insights about people's distorted inferences and skewed interest calculations explain why the lef...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Cambridge, United Kingdom :
Cambridge University Press,
[2019]
|
| Subjects: |
| Summary: | Why did so many Latin American leftists believe they could replicate the Cuban Revolution in their own countries, and why did so many rightists fear the spread of Communism? Cognitive psychological insights about people's distorted inferences and skewed interest calculations explain why the left held exaggerated hopes and why the right experienced excessive dread. The resulting polarization provoked a powerful backlash in which the right uniformly defeated the left. To forestall the feared spread of revolution, the military in many countries imposed authoritarian regimes and brutally suppressed left-wingers. Overly worried about the advance of Cuban-inspired radicalism as well, the United States condoned and supported the installation of dictatorship, but Latin American elites took the main initiative in these regressive regime changes. With a large number of primary and secondary sources, this book documents how the misperceptions on both sides of the ideological divide thus played a crucial role in the frequent destruction of democracy. |
|---|---|
| Physical Description: | x, 310 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 265-301) and index. |
| ISBN: | 9781108483551 1108483550 9781108728836 1108728839 |