Latin American Politics and Society

Gerardo L. Munck · Juan Pablo Luna

Jun 2022 · Cambridge University Press

About this ebook

Taking a fresh thematic approach to politics and society in Latin America, this introductory textbook analyzes the region's past and present in an accessible and engaging style well-suited to undergraduate students. The book provides historical insights into modern states and critical issues they are facing, with insightful analyses that are supported by empirical data, maps and timelines. Drawing upon cutting-edge research, the text considers critical topics relevant to all countries within the region such as the expansion of democracy and citizenship rights and responses to human rights abuses, corruption, and violence. Each richly illustrated chapter contains a compelling and cohesive narrative, followed by thought-provoking questions and further reading suggestions, making this text a vital resource for anyone encountering the complexities of Latin American politics for the first time in their studies.

About the author

Gerardo L. Munck grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and is Professor of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Southern California. His books include Critical Junctures and Historical Legacies (with David Collier; 2022); A Middle-Quality Institutional Trap: Democracy and State Capacity in Latin America (with Sebastián Mazzuca; 2020); and Measuring Democracy: A Bridge Between Scholarship and Politics (2009). He worked on Democracy in Latin America (2004), a United Nations Development Programme report. His awards include the Frank Cass Prize for Best Overall Article in Democratization in 2016, and the Award for Conceptual Innovation in Democratic Studies in 2003.

Juan Pablo Luna grew up in Montevideo, Uruguay, and is Professor of Political Science at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, and Associate Researcher with the Millennium Institute for Foundational Research on Data. His books include Latin American Party Systems (with Kitschelt, Hawkins, Rosas, and Zechmeister; Cambridge, 2010); Segmented Representation, Political Party Strategies in Unequal Democracies (Oxford, 2014); The Resilience of the Latin American Right (with Rovira-Kaltwasser; Johns Hopkins, 2014); En vez del optimismo. Crisis de representación política en el Chile actual (Catalonia, 2017); and Political Parties and Diminished Subtypes (with Rosenblatt, Piñeiro, and Vommaro; Cambridge, 2021).