Book excerpt: South America has experienced dramatic political changes during the last decade. Almost all the military regimes established during the 1960s and 1970s have made room for democratically elected governments. The end of the last authoritarian cycle and the initiation of a democratization process have produced a vigorous debate among experts in South American politics about the present chances for the consolidation of democracy in the Southern Cone. Can we consider the current process of democratization as marking a historical end of authoritarian rule in the region? Or are we simply witnessing a mere democratic intermezzo, after which authoritarianism will recover its longstanding supremacy within South American political development? This book constitutes a general introduction to the role of the State in the current process of democratization in the Southern Cone region. It offers a comprehensive and multidisciplinary overview of the various problems with which the recent democratic governments have been confronted. A central focus of attention is the role played by the state and its institutions in the elimination of the authoritarian legacy and in the construction of a democratic polity.