“Economic rather than social policies were responsible for the crisis of democracy in Latin America.” Discuss.

The question requires that candidates offer a considered and balanced review of the statement. Causes may predate the timeframe but they must be clearly linked to the issue raised in the question. Candidates may offer equal coverage of economic and social policies, or they may prioritize their discussion of economic policies. However, both aspects will be a feature of the response. For economic policies, candidates may refer to the limited success in controlling unemployment or inflation; the rise of public deficit; nationalization. Candidates may discuss the extent to which policies to achieve greater social equality, such as agrarian reforms, led to protests against the democratic governments. Other relevant factors, for example, the role of foreign intervention, may be referred to, but with a focus on the issue in the question.

The question required candidates to offer a considered and balanced review of the statement that economic rather than social policies were responsible for the crisis of democracy in Latin America. The assertion that economic rather than social policy was responsible for the crisis produced some responses of high quality with the argument depending on the country that was applied. However, some candidates demonstrated confusion in applying examples outside the appropriate time frame. Chile was a common choice for the assessment.