I discovered the critical theory of democracy in the classes of Andrew Arato, 25 years ago, in the Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research of New York. It was not just the texts, many of them previously unknown to me, to whom Andrew exposed us, that left their mark. It was also the intellectual curiosity that he awakened in us for the authors, and for the life experience that he and each of the academic friends that he invited to the seminars to debate with us brought. Their works on the political theory of civil society were a formidable inspiration for me and for an entire generation of social scientists in Latin America, in the redoubled effort to deepen the critique of power from a post-Marxist perspective and renew the foci on democracy in Latin America. Andrew has not just established a formal academic relationship with those who approached him to receive his teachings, but also an emotional commitment with what we do and with the different countries from which we come. The constant exercise of critique in our work has thus been nourished by a master who is also an example of rigor, tolerance and friendship. © 2014 Enrique Peruzzotti and Martín Plot for selection and editorial matter; individual contributors their contribution. All rights reserved.