More than a decade has passed since the publication of the first edition of Latin America in the International Political System. Since then, significant events have occurred in the region, and the nature of Latin America's international relations has changed considerably. Although the purpose of this text is unchanged-that of providing stude

Provides a comparative analysis of political and economic development in Latin America Understanding Latin American Politics assesses Latin American political and economic development. This title examines the relationships among political, economic, and social factors in Latin America. Reader engagement is increased through the use of contemporary case studies and primary documents.

Political parties provide a crucial link between voters and politicians. This link takes a variety of forms in democratic regimes, from the organization of political machines built around clientelistic networks to the establishment of sophisticated programmatic parties. Latin American Party Systems provides a novel theoretical argument to account for differences in the degree to which political party systems in the region were programmatically structured at the end of the twentieth century. Based on a diverse array of indicators and surveys of party legislators and public opinion, the book argues that learning and adaptation through fundamental policy innovations are the main mechanisms by which politicians build programmatic parties. Marshalling extensive evidence, the book's analysis shows the limits of alternative explanations and substantiates a sanguine view of programmatic competition, nevertheless recognizing that this form of party system organization is far from ubiquitous and enduring in Latin America.

Analysts and policymakers often decry the failure of institutions to accomplish their stated purpose. Bringing together leading scholars of Latin American politics, this volume helps us understand why. The volume offers a conceptual and theoretical framework for studying weak institutions. It introduces different dimensions of institutional weakness and explores the origins and consequences of that weakness. Drawing on recent research on constitutional and electoral reform, executive-legislative relations, property rights, environmental and labor regulation, indigenous rights, squatters and street vendors, and anti-domestic violence laws in Latin America, the volume's chapters show us that politicians often design institutions that they cannot or do not want to enforce or comply with. Challenging existing theories of institutional design, the volume helps us understand the logic that drives the creation of weak institutions, as well as the conditions under which they may be transformed into institutions that matter.

This book explores the impact of Latin America's political culture on the international politics of the region. It offers a general account of traditional Iberian political culture while examining how relations among states in the hemisphere -- where the United States has been the central actor -- have evolved over time. The authors assess the degree of consistency between domestic and international political behavior. The assessments are supported by case studies.

This is a reader that applies the newest debates in political economy to the analysis of Latin America in a way that is thematically and theoretically cohesive.. Modern Political Economy and Latin America consists of carefully selected, edited readings in Latin American political economy. The editors, Jeffry Frieden and Manuel Pastor, Jr., include an introductory chapter, and a concluding article as well as brief introductions to all sections. These inclusions will make explicit the theoretical underpinnings of each article, and will highlight their respective contributions to the ongoing debates in Latin America. } Modern Political Economy and Latin America consists of carefully selected, edited readings in Latin American political economy. The editors, Jeffry Frieden and Manuel Pastor, Jr., include an introductory chapter, and a concluding article as well as brief introductions to all sections. These inclusions will make explicit the theoretical underpinnings of each article, and will highlight their respective contributions to the ongoing debates in Latin America.Latin American economies are undergoing profound transformations. And, in the wake of a decade-long debt crisis, the statist models of the past are giving way to a reliance on the market even as authoritarian rule seems to have ebbed in favor of new or reborn democratic institutions. As a result, the policy framework guiding economic and political development is likely to be fundamentally different. The analysis of Latin America needs a strong dose of modern political economy--one that can bring the area studies field up to date with the recent developments on the theoretical end of the economics and political science professions. This book helps fill that need. }

Latin American countries have for a long time been importers of public policies and institutions from the Global North. The colonial legacy and resulting patterns of international relations during the 20th century favoured a course of adoption and hybridization of political institutions. In recent decades, a new conjuncture has emerged in which Latin American policies have started to diffuse South-South and even South-North. Led by Brazil with Participatory Budgeting and the Bolsa Familia program, other countries in the region soon followed. The Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system and bicycle policies in Curitiba and Bogotá have also reached wide international recognition and circulation. And yet, despite Latin America’s new role as a policy "exporter", little is known about its dynamics, causes, and effects. Why have Latin American policies been diffused inside and outside the region? Which actors are involved? What driving forces affect these processes? This innovative collection offers a new perspective on the policy diffusion phenomena. Drawing on different examples from Latin American experiences in urban local policies and national social policies, experts present a new framework to study this phenomenon centered on the mobilization of ideas, interests and discourses for policy diffusion. Latin America and Policy Diffusion will be of great interest to researchers, educators, advanced students and practitioners working in the fields of political science, public policy, international relations and Latin American Studies.

Until the late 1980s, Japan was the only country in Asia with notable political and economic relations. Since then, however, several Asian nations have perceived growing links with the Latin American region as a means of diversifying their political and particularly economic relations while many Latin American decision-makers have increasingly recognised the strategic importance of East Asia in their foreign policy and foreign economic policy designs. This book analyses the economic, political and socio-cultural relations between Asia and Latin America and examines their growing importance in international relations. In the first part of the book the contributors look at the policies, interests and strategies of individual Asian and Latin American states, while the second part delves into the analysis of multilateral institution-building in Asia-Latin America relations,. As such, Asia and Latin America will be of interest to undergraduate and postgraduate scholars of comparative politics, international relations, Asian politics and Latin American politics.

Understanding Latin America's recent economic performance calls for a multidisciplinary analysis. This handbook looks at the interaction of economics and politics in the region and includes a number of contributions from top academic experts who have also served as key policy makers (a former president, ministers of finance, a central bank governor), reflecting upon the challenges of reform.

Offers a comprehensive, region-wide analysis of the politics of taxation in Latin America to make reforms politically palatable and sustainable.