A Kellogg Work-in-Progress Seminar with Visiting Fellow Paula Alonso, Associate Professor of History and International Affairs at George Washington University.
This presentation will focus on the role of elections, institutions, and public debates in giving practical meaning to popular sovereignty and democracy in Spanish America during the nineteenth century, while paying careful attention to changing meanings and understandings of democracy and related terms over time. Applications of the term "democracy" ranged from negative references to disorder and tumult, to the government of the people by the people, to denoting the rule of those most capable, and they were associated with a variety of political practices. This work in progress is part of a collaborative project on the history of democracy in Latin America and the Caribbean, 1770-1870s.
Work-in-Progress Seminars are designed to generate in-depth discussion of new scholarly work. For the pre-circulated paper and to attend, register with kievents@nd.edu.