Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction -- The Frayed Social Fabric of Democracy -- The Capacity to Govern -- The Political Institutions of Democracy -- Populism and the Here and Now -- Caudillos in Command -- Judicial Intercession -- Corruption Simpliciter -- Institutional Wreckage -- The Exposed Underpinnings of American Democracy -- Epilogue.

"About a decade ago, I found myself alone for dinner one evening in Buenos Aires, the city of my birth. I had a lecture to give the next day and I had reserved the time alone to prepare over dinner in a typical neighborhood restaurant. Such a "boliche," in the local porteño slang, was a comfortable setting to have a meal. I sat down with typical Argentine fare and the inescapable good wine and turned to my lecture materials. I soon found myself distracted by an excellent soccer match shown on a large screen tv that had been brought in for the occasion. A couple of glasses of tinto, the reds of Mendoza province, and a close football game, and I accepted that lecture preparation was concluded"-- Provided by publisher.