Description
Book SynopsisAnalyzes the function of informal institutions in Latin America and how they support or weaken democratic governance. This work examines how informal rules shape the performance of state and democratic institutions, offering insights into contemporary problems of governability, and unrule of law.
Trade ReviewOne of the most interesting and illuminating works on Latin American politics to appear in recent years. -- Joe Foweraker Journal of Latin American Studies 2007 Rich in empirical material and in provoking theoretical questions. -- Julian Durazo Herrmann European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies 2007
Table of ContentsPreface
Introduction
Part I. The Informal Politics of Executive-Legislative Relations
1. Accommodating Informal Institutions and Chilean Democracy
2. How Informal Electoral Institutions Shape the Brazilian Legislative Arena
3. Crafting Legislative Ghost Coalitions in Ecuador: Informal Institutions and Economic Reform in an Unlikely Case
Part II. Informal Institutions and Electoral Politics
4. Informal Institutions When Formal Contracting Is Prohibited: Campaign Finance in Brazil
5. The Difficult Road from Caudillismo to Democracy: The Impact of Clientelism in Honduras
6. Do Informal Rules Make Democracy Work? Accounting for Accountability in Argentina
Part III. Informal Institutions and Party Politics
7. The Birth and Transformation of the Dedazo in Mexico
8. Election Insurance and Coalition Survival: Formal and Informal Institutions in Chile
9. Informal Institutions and Party Organization in Latin America
Part IV. Informal Judicial Institutions and The Rule of Law
10. The Rule of (Non)Law: Prosecuting Police Killings in Brazil and Argentina
11. Mexico's Postelectoral Concertacasiones: The Rise and Demise of a Substitutive Informal Institution
12. Dispensing Justice at the Margins of Formality: The Informal Rule of Law in Latin America
Conclusion
Afterword: On Informal institutions, Once Again
Notes
References
