本研究目的為擴大詳述目前與拉丁美洲相關的文獻，主要重點在於一些相同特性的國家，並可以普遍的將研究發現適用於其他地區。從拉丁美洲中的一般認知中，將宏都拉斯獨立選出，是考慮到能挑戰國家的負面印象，特別是關於2009年後所出現的政治危機。本研究檢視宏都拉斯民主化的過程，與國家和公民社會之間的正向互動。 拉丁美洲的一些主要國家因相同的要素而改變，也因此有很多重要的改變可以在這期間進行研究。因此在這研究中，發現有三個關鍵的要素可適用於相同歷史時間中的宏都拉斯與拉丁美洲一些主要的國家。本研究的重要性在於進一步了解，宏都拉斯公民社會在2009年之前與到2009年時危機發生之間的轉變。在此同時，也能發掘出民主治理的好處。 這三個關鍵的要素為:憲政工程、軍民關係與選舉，且這些要素在本研究中均有對宏都拉斯與其他拉丁美洲國家的公民社會賦權有所影響。另藉由自由之家(Freedom House)所提出的民主治理檢核表，來了解民主治理與公民社會賦權。 在拉丁美洲中此三個關鍵要素的變化，提供了建置良好的民主治理的可行性。然而，本研究也暗示了未來的相關研究，例如地方與區域性的治理，以及會產生直接影響的外部因素。研究發現也暗示了在宏都拉斯2009年政治危機之後透過了民主治理的好處，對公民社會賦權產生了正向的結果。

Conflict in deeply divided societies often has a profound impact both on the societies in which the conflict is located, and on the surrounding states and societies. Constitutional engineers working in such societies are inevitably attracted to power-sharing as a means of stabilising inter-group relations. Consociational democracy is a form of power-sharing democracy which is particularly attractive for a divided society, because its demands on the society are relatively few. It aims to separate the communities in the conflict as much as possible, while emphasising elite co-operation in the formal institutions of government. A difficulty with consociational democracy, however, is that the elite co-operation it requires to function is also required for the system to be adopted, yet will not necessarily be present. Cyprus is an excellent example of the difficulty of gaining agreement on a consociational regime for a divided society. In 1963, the consociational Republic of Cyprus collapsed as a result of mistrust between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. In 2004, a consociational system of government was designed for Cyprus by a team of UN experts under the direction of then-Secretary-General, Kofi Annan. The system of government was rejected in April 2004 at a referendum, and, consequently, was not adopted. This thesis examines why Cyprus has thus far been unable to adopt a political settlement. Failure is as hard to explain as success. Success may have many fathers and failure none, but there are as many possible causes of a failure as of a success. There is also the difficulty of the counter-factual: what facts would need to be different to produce success where experience is only of failure. The thesis systematically examines possible causes of failure, including the idea of consociational democracy itself, the particular consociational designs proposed for Cyprus, and the influence of historical aspirations and experiences. Particular attention is paid to the idea that there may be key factors which must be present before a consociational solution can be adopted. The factors, selected for this case study for their apparent relevance to Cyprus, are elite co-operation, segmental isolation, a balance of power between the disputant groups, and the ability of the international community to offer incentives for compromise. It is argued that these factors, especially elite relations and the complex web of causes which determine these, are central to an explanation of the Cyprus experience.