This book has focused on the Andean countries' experiences in the 1980s and 1990s; its statistical analysis ends with the administrations that governed through 2000. Not only was this a methodological choice – as the administrations elected in and around 2000 have not governed long enough for much to be written about this most recent period – but it has turned out to be a theoretically important bookend to the project, as well. As Latin America faced the new millennium, a sea change in political representation was under way. Where traditional parties were a major force in elections throughout the region during the period studied, they have ceased to be so in the last few years. Hints of this transformation can be seen even in the 1980s and 1990s, as Venezuela's two traditional parties lost favor in national elections and Chávez came to power trouncing all rivals in 1998 and as Fujimori and then Toledo triumphed over traditional parties in Peru.

This trend extends throughout the region. Lucío Gutiérrez won the presidency in Ecuador in 2002 after gaining national prominence as one of the leaders of the coup that ousted President Mahuad in 2000. Though Mahuad was expelled, power was restored to his elected vice president (Noboa), and Gutiérrez spent time in jail for his part in the coup. Still, his popularity vaulted him to the top of the polls when Noboa's replacement was contested in the next election. Less dramatically, Colombia elected Álvaro Uribe in 2002.