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Colonial legacy and the post-independence period -- Political regimes and democratic stability -- Guerrillas and revolutions -- US-Latin American relations -- Latin American presidentialism -- Legislatures in Latin America -- Elections and electoral rules -- The judiciary -- Political culture -- Corruption -- Civil liberties and press freedom -- Income inequality, poverty, and the gender gap.

This book improves understandings of how and why clientelism endures in Latin America and why state policy is often ineffective. Political scientists and sociologists, the contributors employ ethnography, targeted interviews, case studies, within-case and regional comparison, thick descriptions, and process tracing.

During the last two centuries, the military in Latin America has been involved in politics in a characteristic duality of professionalism and political 'calling', by political armies of the right and the left. In both cases, a kind of 'military mystique' prevails, but its content is different. In both cases, the military justifies its involvement as a consequence of its necessary correcting and transforming vanguard role in politics and society. The two characteristics of dual functions (internal and internal security) and dual pathways (professionalism and political missions) are a revolving theme in this article.

"In Latin America and beyond, societies are deeply unequal, the poor are marginalized, and states face continuous fiscal shortages and real or potential political instability. In this context, democracy functions imperfectly. It intermeshes with clientelism, with the incongruous result that clientelism not only erodes, but also accompanies and supplements democratic processes. Armed with evidence of these complex interactions, this book improves understandings of how and why clientelism endures and why state policy is often ineffective. Political scientists and sociologists, the contributors employ ethnography, targeted interviews, case studies, within-case and regional comparison, thick descriptions, and process tracing. They write from political economy and institutionalist as well as principal-centered and agent-centered perspectives"--