Latino and Latin American Studies 2009
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State, Market and Democracy in Chile assesses the quality of Chilean democracy by examining the impact of free market reforms on the urban poor's incentives for political participation and capacity for collective action. Through in depth analysis of labor market, social welfare and state reforms, along with extensive interviews with party officials and shantytown residents, this book reveals the manner in which neoliberal reform has undermined the urban poor's incentives and ability to hold public officials accountable. In so doing, it demonstrates the manner in which economic liberalization has negatively affected the quality of Chilean democracy.
“In State, Market and Democracy in Chile, Posner argues that even in the competitive political environment characterizing the post-authoritarian period, ‘neoliberalism,’ as a model of economic growth, erodes subaltern groups’ capacity for collective action. Indeed, he makes the point that the current consolidation of a democratic political regime in Chile rests, at least in part, on the ’silence’ of these groups. His focus on the participation and incorporation of the popular sectors in the new democratic institutional arrangements provides a revealing corrective to narrowly institutionalist and procedural interpretations common in much recent work on democracy in Latin America and elsewhere. Comparative chapters on Argentina and Mexico extend Posner’s analysis and make this book important to anyone interested in the quality of democracy in Latin America.”--William C. Smith, Editor, Latin American Politics and Society and Professor of Political Science, University of Miami
"This is a first-rate work that will be a most important contribution to the democracy/democratization debate. It is original in its angle, and a fitting complement to classical works on the subject like Gil's, Petras', or Valenzuela's. There is history, structures, dynamics, contextualization, fruitful comparisons, interviews with relevant actors, numerous examples, copious sources, and accessible theorizing on issues of development, democracy, and stability. The Chile he talks about seems more 'real' than the Chile described in other works from recent years."--Jorge Nef, Director, Institute for the Study of Latin America and the Caribbean, University of South Florida
"This provides a much needed conceptual framework required to analyze and interpret the connections between neoliberal economic policies and limited political participation in Chile and elsewhere in Latin America. The combination of an excellent review of the existing literature on state-society relations, a unique theoretical framework, and the sophisticated application of this framework to the analysis of a number of policies, including labor, social welfare policies and local and national representation, make this book truly valuable in the fields of Comparative and Latin American Politics."--Silvia Borzutzky, Professor of Political Science, Carnegie Mellon University
Paul W. Posner is Associate Professor of Political Science at Clark University, Worcester, MA. He received his doctorate in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His current research focuses on democratization and political participation in developing regions, particularly Latin America. He is also interested in the impact of economic globalization and related state reforms on social organization and collective action in both developing and developed countries. Posner has published in the Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs, Democratization, Latin American Politics and Society and Political Power and Social Theory.
Introduction * The State in Society: Conceptualizing Collective Action and Popular Participation in Latin America * Business, Labor, and the State: The Transformation of the State/Society Nexus * Democratization, Political Representation, and the Rise of Popular Dissatisfaction * Local Democracy and the Transformation of Popular Participation * Social Welfare Reform and Impediments to Social Cohesion and Collective Action * Neoliberalism, Democracy, and the Transformation of State-Society Relations in Argentina * Neoliberalism, Democracy, and the Transformation of State-Society Relations in Mexico * Conclusion
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