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Latin American countries have historically been young societies, with children and young adults making up a substantial portion of their populations. In the colonial and post-independence eras, the high percentage of children and youth commanded interest from government reformers, military regimes, and social welfare organizations as a potential source of political and social unrest (see Kuznesof, 2005, and contributors to Hecht, 2002). In recent years, the proportion that is under age 25, which we broadly term "youth," hovers at just over half of the population both regionally and in nearly every nation (CEPAL/ECLAC, 2007: 26). Youth movements, including the student protests of the 1960s and 1970s, have played critical roles in the shaping of modern history in the region. Sometimes such protests have had tragic ends, as in the case of the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre in Mexico City. Military regimes in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile from the 1960s through the 1980s specifically targeted young women and men-whether or not they were actually involved in political activism-for persecution and disappearance. A generation of youthful participants in the region's political culture was devastated in these nations. In other cases, as among the Sandinistas in Nicaragua and the Zapatistas in Chiapas, Mexico, young men and women were key players in more successful revolutionary uprisings and efforts toward democratic transformation. The involvement of Latin American youth has had a profound influence on the tenor and demands of political and cultural movements in the region in recent times. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Inc., copyright 2008.]

AbstractDo conditional cash transfer programs reduce voters' incentives to hold their government accountable for its performance? Studies show that these programs generate considerable electoral returns for the governments responsible for them. One important and unexplored question is whether these popular programs have also changed the landscape of accountability in Latin America. Survey data from 16 Latin American countries that have adopted CCT programs do not offer support for the claim that such programs have a detrimental effect on electoral accountability for corruption and for the economy. Only in countries where CCT programs do not follow strict rules do beneficiaries attribute relatively less weight to the government's economic performance, but this effect is marginal. These findings fill an important gap in the literature and offer reassuring evidence that cash transfers can alleviate poverty while preserving voters' incentives to exercise electoral accountability in crucial areas of government performance.

This innovative textbook focuses on the policy approach as a systematic tool for understanding Latin American political life and then outlines policymaking variations among the Latin American regimes. The authors introduce the student to the study of policymaking by examining various theoretical perspectives and then grounding those perspectives in

One of the most rapid and thorough intellectual revolutions in recent times took place in Latin America during the last decade. In the early 1960's the notion of "development" (desarrollo) still had an almost religious connotation to it, among intellectuals as well as politicians in Latin America. Today it is overwhelmingly decried as "developmentalism" (desarrollismo), an ideology-serving the interests of U.S. imperialism and serving to obfuscate the realities of exploitation. This dramatic change has far-reaching political implications. The present article, which Dr. Kahl, Professor of Sociology at Cornell, has adapted from his book Modernization, Exploitation and Dependency (soon to be published by Transaction Books), traces the change in sociology, a strategically important field for Latin Americans' self-interpretation. Its focus is on the work of two men who today are the most important Latin American sociologists, Pablo Gonzalez Casanova of Mexico and Fernando Henrique Cardoso of Brazil.

AbstractThis article analyzes the relationship between clientelism and citizens' political orientation in Latin America. Consistent political perceptions in the citizenry are central in traditional theories of political competition. This article argues that clientelism hinders the development of consistent political orientation by reducing the utility of information cues, such as left-right labels. More specifically, clientelistic parties generate indifference among their supporters toward the left-right divide by offering them an alternative voting rationale, and increase uncertainty in the political realm by making left-right labels less meaningful. Both arguments are tested with multilevel regression analyses using cross-sectional data covering 18 Latin American countries. The results indicate that clientelistic party supporters are more likely to show indifference toward the left-right dimension and, to a lesser extent, that their left-right orientation corresponds less with their political attitudes.