Argentine Democracy
The Politics of Institutional Weakness
336 pages | 6 x 9 | 2006
ISBN 978-0-271-02715-9 | cloth: $97.95 sh
ISBN 978-0-271-02716-6 | paper: $29.95 sh
"This volume represents a timely, valuable update on Argentina's democracy and its travails, leading up to the great crisis of 2001-2002. The editors and contributors do a nice job of bringing institutional theory to bear on a host of critical issues, and in doing so reveal just how varied Argentine political institutions are in their strength, endurance, and impact on political behavior. The book is also a reminder of how central politics is to the unfolding and potential resolution of crises that are too often visualized in solely economic terms." —David Pion-Berlin, University of California,Riverside
"This volume is a first-rate collection of original essays that help to explain Argentina's descent from neoliberal showcase to basketcase. The contributors shed new light on the institutional frailties and deformities that undermine effective policymaking, distort political representation, and exacerbate the tensions between democracy and market reform. Rich in comparative and theoretical insights, this book is a must-read for students and scholars alike who are trying to understand why neoliberalism so often fails to live up to its hype in Latin America." —KennethRoberts, Cornell University
“This book is a compendium of provocative, scholarly chapters that deepen our understanding of the continuing puzzles about Argentina: the failure to establish stable political institutions, the persistence and attraction of Peronism, the power of provincial political coalitions, and the enduring cycles of unfulfilled expectations. The book plumbs difficult theoretical and substantive challenges to Argentine democracy and opens up new ways of thinking about and researching its institutions, thus providing a stimulating teaching text.” —PeterRanis, City University of New York
"A superb collection of essays by scholars on the cutting edge of comparative studies of Argentine politics. This book takes us past the usual hand-wringing about the “enigmas” and “paradoxes” of Argentine politics. Instead, it reveals, with stark analytical clarity, heretofore unobserved inner workings of Argentina’s complex institutional and coalitional anatomy. The theoretical breadth of the volume’s editors and contributors tell us much about the state of governance in turn of the century Latin American politics. The impressive empirical coverage makes this a ground-breaking study of Argentine politics that will shape research agendas for a long time to come." —Edward L. Gibson,Northwestern University
During the 1990s Argentina was the only country in Latin America to combine radical economic reform and full democracy. In 2001, however, the country fell into a deep political and economic crisis and was widely seen as a basket case. This book explores both developments, examining the links between the (real and apparent) successes of the 1990s and the 2001 collapse. Specific topics include economic policymaking and reform, executivelegislative relations, the judiciary, federalism, political parties and the party system, and new patternsof social protest.
Beyond its empirical analysis, the book contributes to several theoretical debates in comparative politics. Contemporary studies of political institutions focus almost exclusively on institutional design, neglecting issues of enforcement and stability. Yet a major problem in much of Latin America is that institutions of diverse types have often failed to take root. Besides examining the effects of institutional weakness, the book also uses the Argentine case to shed light on four other areas of current debate: tensions between radical economic reform and democracy; political parties and contemporary crises of representation; links between subnational and national politics; and the transformation of state-society relations inthe post-corporatist era.
Besides the editors, the contributors are Javier Auyero, Ernesto Calvo, Kent Eaton, Sebastián Etchemendy, Gretchen Helmke, Wonjae Hwang, Mark Jones, Enrique Peruzzotti, Pablo T. Spiller,Mariano Tommasi, and Juan Carlos Torre.
Steven Levitsky is John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University.
MaríaVictoria Murillo is Associate Professor of Political Scienceand International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.