| Political stability is necessary for the proper conduct of both private and public life in society. The old-standing question is whether and how political stability depends on political participation: who participates, how many participate, and how do they participate in politics? I examine this question using historical data that cover nineteen Latin American countries since independence until 2005. Specifically, I pose the following questions: Is there an optimal level of political participation that is likely to preserve political stability? Whose participation and in what form is relevant? Do inclusionary rules lead to conflicts that cannot be processed within institutional frameworks? How do changes in the levels of participation affect stability and if so, how long do effects linger? What are the conditions under which a relationship between these variables holds?;The dissertation combines historical narratives with statistical analyses. It is based on an original data file that includes information about political institutions and political events since independence. I employ four measures of political stability - coups d'etat, constitutional change, changes of the head of government, and incomplete terms - to confront the leading hypotheses in the literature that relate political participation to political stability. Additionally, I propose an alternative hypothesis that recognizes Latin American countries' long and rich electoral and political histories. I contend that political stability was independent of political participation throughout the nineteenth century. This view found robust support in the evidence. The political incorporation of peasants and workers was a key issue at the beginning of the twentieth century. In addition to electoral participation, the political participation of organized workers and peasants were new channels of political expression. While the data did not provide definitive support on whether political participation, in any of these forms, affected political stability, a fascinating finding emerged from the analyses. The empirical evidence indicated that allowing for at least a modicum level of political opposition promoted political stability throughout the independent histories of Latin American countries, regardless of political participation. |
