Promoting civilian-elected regimes in Nicaragua and Chile: Polyarchy, neoliberalism, and the United States imperial state, 1980--1990

This dissertation examines the circumstances of and the reasons for US promotion of "civilian-elected regimes" in Nicaragua and Chile during the 1980s. The theoretical framework advances a thesis of the US "imperial state." The objectives of US imperial state operations in Latin America since the mid-twentieth century have been to uphold the social relations that form the basis for capital accumulation. Until the 1980s, this objective was accomplished by backing military dictatorships (self-appointed regimes) over civilian-constitutional governments (regimes appointed through elections) in the region.; However, by the 1980s the US apparently withdrew its support for dictatorships in the region and called for transitions to constitutionally elected governments. During this decade, imperial operations in Latin America became increasingly focused on either supporting particular sectors of the anti-authoritarian opposition to gain power through elections or securing transitions by exerting diplomatic pressure to make certain that the dictatorship in question did not derail the process. Governmental documents during the Reagan and Bush administrations reveal that US intervention in the 1989 elections in Chile and the 1990 elections in Nicaragua were unprecedented policy changes, but the long-term objectives continued to be the maintenance of capitalist social relations and US domination in the region.