In 2008 Fernando Lugo came to power in Paraguay promising a 'new dawn' based on social justice, democracy and greater empowerment of the country's poor but just four years later, with his reform programme in tatters.

In his inaugural lecture, Professor Peter Lambert examines the failure of Lugo's reform programme through analysis of both immediate causes and wider factors related to domestic power relations and political culture. This in turn raises questions about the very nature of Paraguay's ongoing transition to democracy.