Question 1: What do you think is the most important single reason that efforts to democratize Russia have been less successful that those in South Africa and/or Mexico?
Question 2. Both Mexico and South Africa are highly-unequal political economies that have undergone democratic transitions. In both cases, the democratic regime appears at least moderately consolidated(stronger). At the same time, both polities are facing some very serious internal challenges.
Assess what you think are the principal challenges to further democratic consolidation in each case. In answering this question, you should discuss:
(1) the difference the legacy of apartheid makes for efforts to improve and consolidate democracy in South Africa relative to Mexico, and
(2) discuss at least one major difference between the two countries related to democratic consolidation that is not directly related to apart heid.
Question 3. South Africa pioneered the use of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to deal with the â¨severe abuses perpetrated during its apartheid era. What is a TRC, how does it work, and what are its potential strengths and pitfalls with respect to post-democratization political stabilization?
Question 4: What is corporatism and how did it undergird authoritarianism in Mexico?