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This is a theoretical paper in the field of democratic theory. It reviews the discussions on one of the elements proposed to measure the quality of democracies: government responsiveness to citizens' preferences. It analyses theoretical discussions on democracy, quality of democracy and in particular the debate on whether responsiveness is useful to measure quality, what challenges it implies and what are its conceptual and empirical limits. It concludes with a research agenda on this topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a conference paper by Domingo García Belaunde titled "La democracia constitucional en América Latina y las evoluciones recientes del presidencialismo" and delivered at the Encuentro del Instituto Iberoamericano de Derecho Constitucional at the Universidad Externado de Colombia in Bogota on April 23-25, 2008. The paper discusses constitutional democracy and changes in the presidential system of government in Latin America.

When analysing transitions toward democracy during the last three decades of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century, it is readily apparent that the variety of empirical processes is so wide that achieving meaningful theoretical results is extremely difficult, as shown very explicitly by the existing literature on the topic. This paper addresses the key theoretical questions that need to be dealt with by the empirical analysis of the transitional process: Are there key. recurring actors and factors that we should take into account when analysing all cases in depth? Why is a focus on installation salient? Are there recurring patterns of successful transitions? Is or are there key recurring mechanism/s that critically explain successful transitions? And are there obstacles that make it impossible to achieve a successful transition and doom such a process to failure? On the basis of existing knowledge in the subfield an attempt is made to reply to these questions, and in this way to single out the main theoretical results achieved in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to discuss the concept of neopatrimonialism, a notion that has been employed to depict the persistence of traditional forms of authority in the midst of the legal-bureaucratic institutions of contemporary states. It is argued that the concept describes a particularistic mode of appropriation of public goods. Then, it is shown how to identify a conceptual space of possibilities for neopatrimonialism to thrive. This space is established by the intersection of two dimensions: the type of political regime and the measure of bureaucratic strength of the state. Using a method of hierarchical cluster analysis, Latin American countries are classified according to indicators of bureaucratic development and portrayed in a bi-dimensional space. Based on the empirical evidence and the prior theoretical elaboration, the concept of neopatrimonialism is discussed in the light of its analytical explanatory force. It is conclude that this latter issue requires further research; hence, it has to be accompanied by other strategies of analysis on the relationship between socio-political practices and the functioning of the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the conceptual frontlines of a theory of the deepening of democracy. First, the contributions and limitations of the literature on the quality of democracy are discussed. Then, it is argued the necessity of reconstructing the principles related to the idea of democracy in order to discern the regulative ideals that should be subjects of empirical scrutiny. The challenge is to open new research agendas centered on those elements that constitute a lively and robust democracy. This will imply the task of rethinking the concepts of participation, political competition, and popular control of public action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]