The paper first sets out simplified versions of recent mainstream papers which explain the rise of democracy in 19th century Europe and its instabliity in Latin America. Then it attempts to convince Marxists of the importance of these works for Marxist thought.Finanncial assistance is acknowledged from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Education and FEDER through grants SEC2003-00306 and SEJ2006-0379, from the Barcelona Economics Program of CREA, from the Generalitat of Catalunya through grant 2005SGR00477, and from Consolider-Ingenio 2010(CSD2006-00016).