Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review“Once countries successfully install democracy, usually the next hurdle is economic reform. Primarily investigating Argentina and the Philippines, but also considering other Latin American cases, Eaton shows that countries with party-centered politics are more likely to implement reform, whereas countries with candidate-centered politics are less likely. This book makes a significant contribution by synthesizing topics (legislators, party systems, bureaucracies, executive-legislative relations, and public policy) and regions (Latin America and Asia) that are not commonly compared. His study applies a wide range of methods, from following bills through legislatures to interviewing local actors and collecting local scholarship and archival materials.”
—Gretchen Casper,Penn State University
“Eaton’s work helps fill an important gap in the institutionalist literature. His thoughtful and detailed empirical analysis demonstrates the prominent impact political institutions have on public policy. Given the tremendous problems caused by recurrent budget deficits in many developing countries today, the book’s focus on fiscal policy is particularly timely. Anyone concerned with the relationship between institutions and policy will benefit from reading this excellent book, as will those concerned more generally with economics and politics in Argentina or the Philippines.”
—Mark P. Jones,Michigan State University
“This excellent book is a valuable contribution to the literature on the politics of neoliberal reforms in developing countries. Eaton challenges the idea that legislators have played a passive role in the implementation of economic reforms.”
—M.E. Carranza CHOICE
“Eaton makes an important contribution to our understanding of the challenges facing new democracies as they undertake economic reforms, and the book will serve as a model for future scholars as they develop their research designs.”
—Eric N. Budd Perspectives on Political Science
“On the narrowly focused question of whether and how elected legislatures have an appreciable and variable impact on fiscal policy actions implemented in the neoliberal era in developing countries, this book makes a significant and well-researched contribution to our understanding.”
—Sinan Koont The Americas
“In this important new book, Kent Eaton argues that—under democracies of varying quality—legislatures are quite important in determining the destiny of reform. The argument is indeed quite convincing and carefully made. . . . This book does exactly what good comparative politics should do: It is cross-regional, theoretically informed, clearly argued, and chock full of solid empirical detail.”
—Jeffrey Cason Perspectives on Politics
“In this important new book, Kent Eaton argues that —under democracies of varying quality—legislatures are quite important in determining the destiny of reform. The argument is indeed quite convincing and carefully made.”
—Jeffrey Cason Comparative Politics
“Indeed, this book does exactly what good comparative politics should do; It is cross-regional, theoretically informed, clearly argued, and chock full of solid empirical detail.”
—Jeffrey Cason Comparative Politics
