EBOOK After Neoliberalism?:The Left and Economic Reforms in Latin America

The political trajectory of Latin America in the last decade has been remarkable.          The left, which had been given up for dead across the region, swept into power in        numerous countries: Ecuador, Brazil, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia, and even Chile.          Moreover, the Mexican left, which lost an extremely close (and disputed) election a        couple of years ago, may yet come to power in 2012. Once these left governments took        the reins of power, though, they acted very differently. Some have been truly        radical, while others have been moderate. Gusatvo Flores-Macias' After        Neoliberalism? offers the first systemic explanation of why left-wing governments        across the region have acted in the way that they have. His theory hinges on party        systems. Deeply institutionalized, stable party systems have forestalled radical        change regardless of the governing party's philosophy, but states with weakly        institutionalized party systems have opened the door for more radical reform. Evo        Morales and Hugo Chavez, then, are not simply more radical than Lula and Chile's        Michele Bachelet (who left office in March 2010). Rather, weak party systems allowed        them to adopt more radical policies. Flores-Macias is careful to add that weak party        systems also allow for rightwing radicals to enact policies more easily, but at this        historical conjuncture, the left has the upper hand. Utilizing a rich base of        empirical evidence drawn from eleven countries, After Neoliberalism? will reshape        our understanding of not simply why the left has had such a far-reaching triumph,        but how it actually governs.