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By Luis E. Gonzalez

Abstract

This essay probes some aspects of the effect the Uruguayan party system might have on the country's redemocratization process by discussing the characteristics of the party system before the 1973 coup and the role of the parties with regard to the political opening from 1980 to August 1984. A prospective exercise will end the analysis, suggesting some institutional engineering to strengthen the possibilities of the democratic restoration. The whole discussion is concerned with only one dimension of the redemocratization process. This means that even if the main points of the argument (and the suggested policies) were right, no precise predictions on the actual redemocratization process would follow. The rightness of a partial analysis such as the present one is always ceteris paribus, that is, if the context experiences changes important enough, these may neutralize or even reverse any trend resulting solely from the partial study. Nevertheless, a partial analysis may be better than none. This is particularly so if, as it will be seen, some of the relevant issues have already been on the political agenda and probably will be back on it in a relatively near future. Decisions will have to be taken -- by action or omission. Because of that, and at least from a normative point of view, the possibility of contributing to the redemocratization debate is worth attempting the present discussion.

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