Joseph S. Tulchin

Combating corruption in Latin America

Corruption persists as a challenge to the consolidation of Latin American democracies and to their economic development. Contrary to many expectations, policies to reduce the size of government, such as the privitization of state firms, have not proved a cure against corruption. In some cases, economic liberalization seems only to have worsened the problem. Combating Corruption in Latin America examines the relationship between democratic and market reforms and corruption, including national strategies for its reduction. Authors from across the region, the United States, and Europe, discuss the nature, methods, and historical antecedents of todays corrupt practices, including issues of institutional design, the role of international actors, and culture. These chapters raise many important questions. Can corruption in some cases be economically efficient? Does the transition to democracy and free markets increase or reduce opportunities and incentives for corruption? What policy responses are in effect at the local, national, and international levels, and are they likely to be effective? How is a growing business culture across Latin America likely to influence efforts for improved government transparency and efficiency? Contributors come from the worlds of academia, government, journalism, and international financial institutions, and bring a range of economic and political perspectives to bear on the subject. They are Alberto Ades, Fernando Carrillo-Florez, Carlos Eduardo Lins Da Silva, Rafael Di Tella, Edmundo Jarquin, Luigi Manzetti, Luca Meldolesi, Luis Moreno Ocampo, Stephen Quick, Susan Rose-Ackerman, Mark L. Schneider, Ibrahim F. I. Shihata, and Laurence Whitehead.

Latin America in the new international system

This text places Latin America in the context of debates on economic globalization and the dramatically changing nature of the international system. The authors argue that the ongoing diversification of economic and strategic ties presents Latin American nations with new options - and also dangers.

Social development in Latin America : the politics of reform

This volume provides a wide-ranging analysis of social welfare reform in Latin America, examining in particular the politics involved in implementing difficult and controversial social policies that often pit the middle strata of society, represented by powerful stakeholders, against the poor.

Regional Security in Latin America after US Hegemony

The legacy of US hegemony makes it difficult for Latin American nations to exercise their agency in international affairs. The urge to escape that hegemony precipitated the creation of new organizations without the USA. Complicating the effectiveness of these organizations will be the following: historical differences among nations, the asymmetry of power between the USA and other nations in the hemisphere, older regional organizations, and the rapprochement between Cuba and the USA which removes the symbol of defiance to hegemony that was so important in Latin America. The chapter reviews the geopolitics of the new organizations and expressions of agency by individual countries and concludes that each nation will decide how it wants to use the new organizations in realizing their agency.

Looking Forward: Comparative Perspectives on Cuba's Transition (review)

inclined toward authoritarianism. This is a much more contentious claim not adequately demonstrated in this volume. Missing is a demonstration of the causal pathways between early and later Venezuelan history. One might also note that not all Venezuelan presidents have clearly exhibited the same personalist style. Notable exceptions might include Isafas Medina Angarita (1941-1945) and Romulo Betancourt (1958-1963), both highly influential and generally admired today. Greenwood also does not adequately support his claim that Andersons theories are structuralist rather than constructivist. Greenwood himself seems to draw upon structuralism in explaining why Creoles opted for a civic conception of nationalism rather than a more radical egalitarian variety. The choice, he acknowledges, was rooted in the nature of the colonial export economy—not a novel argument to be sure, but one implying that yclass structures make a difference. Yet he devotes very little attention to social class issues and how they shaped Creole thought. Even less attention is devoted to gender, despite some evidence that choices made in the kitchen may influence national identity as much as choices made in male-dominated social realms.