Question

Analyze the argument that high levels of inequality have led to political instability in Latin America.(1 point)
Responses

Over time, Latin America’s communist economic and social policies have cooled. For example, many Latin Americans are now able to own private businesses, which was not allowed in the past.
Over time, Latin America’s communist economic and social policies have cooled. For example, many Latin Americans are now able to own private businesses, which was not allowed in the past.

In the middle of the twentieth century, Cuba appeared to be doing quite well. It was growing economically and socially. By the 1950s, however, it was no longer doing so well.
In the middle of the twentieth century, Cuba appeared to be doing quite well. It was growing economically and socially. By the 1950s, however, it was no longer doing so well.

Throughout the twentieth century, economic growth was focused on institutions, such as plantations, that do not supply a lot of well-paid e

Answer 1

The third response is the best choice.

Why: it links political instability to the structure of economic growth—concentrated in export enclaves (plantations, mines, etc.) that employ few well‑paid workers and leave wealth concentrated in elite hands. That high, persistent inequality fuels grievance, clientelism, weak state legitimacy, and support for radical or populist challengers (e.g., Mexican and Cuban revolutions, civil wars in Guatemala and El Salvador, recent protests in Chile), which produces instability.

Why the first two are wrong: they misstate Latin America as broadly “communist” and claim a simple cooling of communist policies; most countries were never communist and private enterprise long existed, so that argument doesn’t explain how inequality generated instability.