Democracy and interpretations of 1964

Abstract  This article analyses the concepts of democracy mobilized by the historiographical production of the last three decades on the 1964 coup. Based on Reinhart Koselleck's History of Concepts, the main hypothesis is that the bibliography, which is highly critical of previous interpretations, has both embraced a normative concept of democracy, constructed in the post-1945 United States, and naturalized the historical experience of the New Republic to analyse the events and actors of 1964.

Keywords:
1964 coup; historiography; military dictatorship; democracy