Has the fundamental shift in Mexico’s political system away from single-party authoritarian rule had any impact on the pattern of corruption that has plagued the country for years? Is there less or more corruption today? Have different types of corruption emerged? If so, why?

Stephen Morris addresses these questions, comprehensively exploring how the changes of  the past    More >

With China on the minds of many in Latin America—from politicians and union leaders to people on the street, from business students to senior bankers—a number of important questions arise. Why, for example, is China so rapidly expanding its ties with the region? What is the nature of the new connection, and how will it affect institutions, economic structures, politics, and society? R.    More >

The third edition of this historically and theoretically grounded analysis of the democratic experience in Latin America reflects important developments both in the region and in the comparative politics literature.

Placing the subject in a normative context, John Peeler gives significant attention to the adequacy of a purely electoral concept of democracy. He also addresses the problems that    More >

Do societal inequalities limit the effectiveness of democratic regimes? And if so, why? And how? Addressing this question, Bernd Reiter focuses on the role of societal dynamics in undermining democracy in Brazil.

Reiter explores the ways in which race, class, and gender in Brazil structure a society that is deeply divided between the included and the excluded—and where much of    More >

In this fresh look at Venezuelan politics, Steve Ellner emphasizes the central significance of the country's economic and social cleavages.  

Ellner's journey through modern Venezuelan history—observing popular masses and social actors as much as political elites and formal institutions fundamentally informs his analysis of Hugo Chávez's presidency and the    More >

The premise of this book is, simply, that politicians matter—that an understanding of the role played by politicians in the way that politics is carried out in their countries is, far from constituting a resurrection of outdated elitist theories, of vital importance in present-day Latin America.

The authors consider politicians as both cause and effect. Drawing on    More >

This seminal book was inspired by a series of questions: What explains the endurance of Augusto Pinochet's authoritarian regime in Chile, a country with a lengthy democratic tradition? What mechanisms secured the regime's political stability and broad-based support? What role did neoliberal ideas play in authoritarian discourse and policy? How could two such opposite forces as political coercion    More >

Though founded in the wake of a revolution that embodied its slave population's quest for freedom and equality, Haiti has endured a history marked by an unending pattern of repressive dictatorial regimes. Exploring that history, Robert Fatton offers a rigorous explanation of how and why the legacy of colonialism, the struggle against slavery, and the intersection of the domestic and world    More >

Winner of the British Society of Criminology's Best Book Award!

How Latin American governments will respond to popular outcry against unprecedented levels of both corruption and crime ranks among the principal political questions of this decade. The State on the Streets focuses on the tense interplay of police, democracy, state, and civil society    More >

Is democracy in Latin America in trouble, as many now argue? Or is the increasingly overt political participation of both "average" and marginalized citizens evidence to the contrary? This important collection focuses on citizenship to shed light on the dynamics and obstacles that the region's democracies now face.

The authors place citizenship in the context of    More >

Thoroughly updated to reflect recent events and trends, this new edition of Understanding Contemporary Latin America treats the range of issues facing the region in the first decade of the twenty-first century.

The authors provide current, thorough analyses not only of history, politics, and economics, but also environmental concerns, class and ethnicity, the role of    More >

Although the US has spent more than $25 billion on international drug-control programs over the last two decades, it has failed to reduce the supply of cocaine and heroin entering the country. It has, however, succeeded in generating widespread, often profoundly damaging, consequences, most notably in Latin America and the Caribbean. The authors of Drugs and Democracy in Latin America    More >

How can a region roiled by political strife, civil war, illicit drug trafficking, and dismal economic performance achieve political stability and support economic growth? The Andes in Focus addresses this question with an in-depth look at the complex factors underlying the present volatile situation.

The authors offer detailed analyses of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador,    More >

Why have women remained marginalized in Chilean politics, even within a context of democratization? Addressing this question, Susan Franceschet traces women's political activism in the country—from the early twentieth century struggles for suffrage to current efforts to expand and deepen the practice of democracy.

Franceschet highlights the gendered nature of political    More >

Mexico made a peaceful transition to democracy when it elected opposition candidate Vicente Fox president in July 2000—an event that has had a profound impact on the country's political system, its economic and social policy, and its international relationships. Mexico Under Fox examines the elements of continuity and change found in Mexico today.

The authors    More >

Mexico's presidential elections in July 2000 brought victory to National Action Party (PAN) candidate Vicente Fox—and also the hope of democratic change after decades of single-party rule. Tracing the key themes and dynamics of a century of political development in Mexico, David Shirk explores the evolution of the party that ultimately became the vehicle for Fox's success.

Shirk examines    More >

Painting a sober yet hopeful picture of current Mexican politics and economics, Mexico's Democracy at Work focuses on the country's still incomplete transformation from an authoritarian system, as well as the many challenges that exist within the new, more democratic context. The authors pay particular attention to both domestic and international economic dynamics and to Mexico's    More >

The myriad changes affecting contemporary Latin America in the context of a globalizing world are so far reaching, argue the authors of Latin America in the Twenty-First Century, that understanding them requires both new conceptual tools and multidisciplinary analysis. In response to this need, they explore developments in the region in terms of four central processes: the construction of    More >

Designed to enhance readers' comprehension and appreciation of the traditions, influences, and common themes underlying the many differences within this complex region, Understanding the Contemporary Caribbean ranges in coverage from history to economics and politics, from the environment to ethnicity, from religion to the Caribbean diaspora.

The authors'thorough yet    More >

The radical alteration of the political landscape in Venezuela following the electoral triumph of the controversial Hugo Chávez calls for a fresh look at the country's institutions and policies. In response, and challenging much of the scholarly literature on Venezuelan democracy, this book offers a revisionist view of Venezuela's recent political history and a fresh appraisal of the    More >

In this theoretically rich and methodologically sophisticated investigation, Damarys Canache examines the significance of public opinion in Venezuela during the tumultuous 1990s and establishes a new framework for the study of political support in fragile democracies.

Canache highlights the importance of mass attitudes regarding democracy as a form of government, showing that what people think    More >

As Latin America's new democratic regimes have decentralized, the region's capital cities—and their elected mayors—have gained increasing importance. Capital City Politics in Latin America tells the story of these cities: how they are changing operationally, how the the empowerment of mayors and other municipal institutions is exacerbating political tensions between local    More >

The collapse of the Duvalier dictatorship in 1986 gave rise to optimism among Haitians in all walks of life—to hopes for a democratic journey leading to economic development, political renewal, and social peace. The reality of the subsequent years, however, has not been so sanguine. Robert Fatton analyzes the vicissitudes of politics in Haiti from the demise of Duvalier through the events of    More >

During the swan song of the Soviet Union and the immediate aftermath of the Cold War, many insurgent groups that had been dependent on Moscow or Havana quickly faded into political oblivion. But some existing groups, as well as emerging ones, flourished within a new and uncharted political constellation. This comparative study probes the origins and effects of Latin America's most potent insurgent    More >

As electoral politics in Mexico have become more open and democratic, the country's economy also has been thoroughly restructured and new ideas about government, state-society relations, and Mexico's place in the international system have taken hold. Mexico's Politics and Society in Transition explores these interrelated trends. Offering fresh perspectives on the contemporary problems on    More >

The nations of Latin America and the Caribbean experienced far-reaching change in the decade of the 1990s, as the region's democracies shifted toward new economic models based on increased openness and market principles.

Addressing the challenges that subsequently emerged, this collection explores issues ranging from globalization, democratization, and economic change, to the environment and    More >

Ethnopolitics in Ecuador explores the rise of a vigorous contemporary indigenous movement in Ecuador, tracking the political and social transformations it has generated. Funding for bilingual literacy programs, participation in local and national politics after centuries of exclusion, and expanded protection for the rights of a growing number of self-identified members are among the    More >

Elusive Reform explores one of the Latin American countries' biggest challenges: establishing a rule of law. Based on a close examination of historical patterns, it demonstrates how executive power and judicial disarray thwart progress toward judicial independence, state accountability, and citizen access to effective means of conflict resolution.

Ungar critiques the wide spectrum of    More >

The contributors assess the role of the center-right National Action Party (PAN) in Mexico's transition to a democratic regime. A wave of local- and state-level PAN victories rolled over Mexico during the 1980s and 1990s as the party attracted prominent businessmen onto its candidate slates. Their successes paved the way for the July 2000 election of Vicente Fox, whose defeat of the PRI candidate    More >

This is the first comprehensive study of the multilateral political, electoral, and military peacemaking and peace-building missions in Latin America and the Caribbean. The authors cover electoral-observation missions in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico, as well as diplomatic/military missions in Nicaragua and along the Peru-Ecuador border. Also included are    More >

Privatization policies have swept most of Latin America in recent years, but very little attention has been paid so far to the consequences that the withdrawal of the state in strategic economic sectors is going to entail. The fact that public utilities and financial services are now in private hands makes it imperative that the state redefine its role from that of an entrepreneur to one of an    More >

Countless studies of citizen participation in public decisionmaking point out the limitations of direct democracy when it is transported from the realm of political theory into the "real world." In contrast, this book examines a case where an innovative city government gave major decisionmaking power to ordinary citizens on a large scale—and managed to survive and    More >

Though few observers dispute that change is coming to Cuba, there is a notable lack of consensus regarding the pace and direction of that change. The authors of this collection offer a range of views on the growing political and economic challenges facing the Castro regime, how those challenges will be met, and Cuba's prospects for a peaceful transition to democracy. The book also includes two    More >

While previous analyses of public-sector reform efforts in Latin America have focused largely on strategies to redefine the role of the state in the economy, there is a growing realization that social reform—addressing such issues as poverty, inequality, and unemployment—is a condition on which economic and political stability rest. This volume provides a wide-ranging analysis of    More >

Intrigued with the question of how societies adopt norms, institutions, and rules associated with liberal democracy, the contributors to this volume examine how political actors in Latin America reorient their behavior and attitudes to support, adapt, or acquiesce to democracy. The authors offer case studies of change in political parties in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Venezuela—countries    More >

In 1990, Nicaraguans voted out the revolutionary Sandinista regime and replaced it with the conservative government of President Violeta Chamorro. Chamorro's term of office was marked by constitutional, economic, partisan, and social conflict, as her administration attempted to replace the revolutionary system with representative government and market economics.

Close examines these    More >

After winning a stunning and decisive victory in Nicaragua’s 1990 presidential election, Violeta Chamorro reversed much of the social and economic policy enacted by the previous Sandinista government. Cynthia Chavez Metoyer explores state-society relationships during the Chamorro administration, focusing on the effect that the postsocialist, neoliberal state has had on women.

Metoyer    More >

Exploring the difficulties of inducing meaningful political reform in Brazil's "bureaucratic-authoritarian" era, this volume examines the impact of the fall of Fernando Collor de Mello. The authors, representing historical, constitutional, and institutional perspectives, focus on themes related to the linkages between corruption and political reform: the range of corrupt activities by    More >

This volume highlights the growing disjuncture between Mexico's recently accelerated transition to democracy at the national level and what is occurring at the state and local levels in many parts of the country. Subnational political regimes controlled by hard-line antidemocratic elements linked to the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) remain important in late-twentieth-century Mexico, even    More >

A Choice Outstanding Academic Book

Concerns about democratization in Latin America today center not on the threat of authoritarian regression, but on the depth, quality, fairness, and completeness of democratization thus far. Large-scale economic and social reforms, stronger and more complex civil societies, and processes of integration and globalization call    More >

Mexico's rural reforms of the early 1990s were designed to bring corn growers and other largely subsistence farmers into the cultivation of crops with appeal in global markets. This was to be accomplished through the reduction and eventual elimination of subsidies and guarantee prices to basic crops and a relaxation of tenure constraints on ejido land. Contributors to this anthology give us a    More >

This volume explores how recent reforms to Mexico's agrarian legislation changed the ejido's traditional role as the principal economic and political agent in the countryside. Based on field studies in Chiapas, Jalisco, Oaxaca, and Yucatán, the authors demonstrate how variations in historical contexts and local sociocultural conditions have had a major impact on the efficacy of agrarian    More >

What impact has electoral observation had on transitions to democracy in Latin America, and what direction should it take in the future? In addressing these and related questions, the contributors to this volume examine the evolution of electoral observation strategies since the 1980s, the relative contributions that foreign and domestic observers can make to free and fair elections and to the    More >

The Brazilian economy has long been characterized by rapid growth—but equally by high inflation and an extreme maldistribution of wealth, despite the strong international reputation of the country's economists. Seeking to explain this, Chaffee links political interest with economic policy, showing how short-term political needs have dominated over long-term economic values.

The    More >

Manufacturing Insecurity provides a sobering analysis of an extraordinary boom and bust story: Nurtured by military rule and expanding international markets, Brazil's defense sector emerged as a Third World leader in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Within a decade, a country that had been almost totally dependent on outside suppliers became a significant manufacturer for the global    More >

The post-Cold War world has presented Latin American militaries with new, unsettling realities: diminished threats from insurgencies, governments' inability to control the flow of information, the necessity of operating within a global economic system, and a lost ability by weaker states to manipulate external actors. These conditions are placing military institutions under pressure to support    More >

Choice Outstanding Academic Book

From his vantage point as both an academic economist and a political insider, Bresser Pereira    More >

Legislatures are indispensable parts of constitutional liberal democracies, controlling and criticizing the executive while voicing a wide range of opinions on public issues. This book examines the role of the legislature in the politics of democratic construction and consolidation in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, El Salvador, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Uruguay.

Analyzing the status and daily    More >

The Salinas administration's reforms in Mexico generated both widespread attention and a host of questions. This book addresses those questions, examining the impact of the recent reforms on the state's relations with key social and political actors—labor, the peasantry, business, political parties, and the church—and assessing reform initiatives in the areas of education, human    More >

Severe political and economic problems challenge the civilian governments that have emerged in Latin America over the past decade. While achieving a degree of stability, these governments remain threatened by serious obstacles to the democratic process. This volume addresses the problematic relationship between neoliberal strategies of economic restructuring and the process of democratic    More >

When Peru's APRA—one of the oldest and most controversial political parties in Latin America—came to power in 1985, expectations were high for the new government, in part because a decade of economic decline and social crisis had discredited both the military and the right as alternatives. APRA did manage to maintain an unprecedented consensus for two years. But a sudden shift in    More >

This timely book explores to what degree democracy has taken root in El Salvador, and to what extent the country can strengthen democratic, civilian-controlled government institutions.

The authors highlight a number of key questions: Does the electoral process allow for a fair and impartial reflection of the popular will? Is U.S. policy aiding the cause of democracy—or    More >

In just twenty years, popular movements have changed the face of Mexican politics, as organized groups of peasants, teachers, city dwellers, women, and students have crowded into the political arena to pose new challenges to the old order of political cooptation and control. Assessing the overall political significance of this effervescence, the contributors to this book focus on the interactions    More >