Internal and external pressures for democratic opening in Honduras and El Salvador: a comparative analysis of incipient democracies

Democracy is conceptualized as resulting from different pressures put on a restrictive political regime. Internal pressures for the opening of an authoritarian regime derive from the evolving balance of class forces, shifting with the level and nature of capitalist development. On the other hand, external pressures on the regime generate external incentives which impact on the capacities and plitical objectives of the various class actors. The quality of incipient democratic regimes is a consequence of the particular mix of pressures existing in each case.