Approaching Latin American politics and government from a political science perspective, Politics in Latin America focuses on three unifying themes central to Latin America today--the challenges of development, liberty, and governance. These themes are fully and consistently integrated into the country studies, which examine seven important Latin American countries. The first four chapters provide a historical overview and describe the historical and theoretical importance of each of these challenges. Then each country study discusses the challenges as they pertain to that particular country. In the process of examining these three challenges, the text considers their implications for the future of democracy in the region.