Political Institutions, Actors, and Arenas in Latin American Policymaking

In the past thirty years, democratic freedom and competitive electoral processes have taken hold as never before in Latin America. This document zeroes in (by way of summarizing the results of nine detailed studies developed by field experts) on the intricate workings of democratic institutions, the actors that participate in democratic systems, and the arenas in which political and policy interactions take place in Latin America. The focus is on how those institutions, actors, and arenas affect the policymaking processes of Latin American countries for better or worse.