HOW CAN WE BETTER UNDERSTAND THE FUNCTIONING OF INSTITUTIONS? AN UNORTHODOX APPROACH

Daniel M. Brinks, Steven Levitsky, María Victoria Murillo (Eds.), The Politics of Institutional Weakness in Latin America, Cambridge University Press, 2020, 339 p.

Abstract

An exceptionally versatile book has been published by one of the most
respected research communities specializing in Latin American research. The
book provides a complete panorama of the latest findings in research on the
institutional system. In addition to a completely new conceptual and
theoretical approach, it reinforces the authors’ assumptions with a wide range
of empirical research that focuses on the most relevant topics of Latin
American reality, mainly in the political and the economic fields while also
revealing the complex interconnectedness and interaction of different aspects.
Through the combined arc of case studies it becomes evident how inextricably
intertwined these areas are, how the results of political decision-making
mechanisms impact different fields of economic life or certain groups in the
society. The editors of the volume, namely Daniel M. Brinks (University of
Texas at Austin), Steven Levitsky (Harvard University), and María Victoria
Murillo (Columbia University) and the contributing authors (sixteen
altogether) provide one of the most significant and extensive analyses of the
functioning mechanisms of the Latin American institutional system in recent
years.