'Raúl L. Madrid's The Birth of Democracy in South America is a superb book. It is one of the best books I've read on Latin America, and it is the best comparative analysis I've read of the origins of democracy. The book offers a clear, very original, and parsimonious theoretical argument; engagement with the existing literature; outstanding empirical research; a highly important research topic; excellent knowledge of the cases; and a very disciplined approach to the case studies.' Scott Mainwaring, University of Notre Dame