This situation can be seen across a diverse array of national
historical-institutional settings: from more established ‘cacique
democracies’ such as Mexico, Brazil and the Philippines, to more recent
‘new democracies’ incorporating local ‘traditional’ authorities, such
as in post-apartheid South Africa, post-conflict Mozambique and
post-Suharto Indonesia. The failure of states to account to its rural
citizens has played a significant role in setting limits on the
consolidation of democratic regimes in numerous countries throughout
the developing world, even in those without rural majorities, such as
Brazil or South Africa. At the same time, the inherited rural-urban
divide in some countries has changed, become more porous, and even lost
relevance over time, especially in more recent decades, even as it has
persisted in others.