This volume focuses on the effects of market reforms on domestic politics in Latin America. Taking civilian rule as a constant, it examines six countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela) that embraced similar packages of reforms in the 1980s.

They uncover three principal trends: that of Argentina and Chile, where the implementation of market reforms and increasingly competitive politics have gone hand in hand; that of Brazil and Mexico, where market reforms catalyzed transitions from entrenched authoritarian rule; and that of Peru and Venezuela, where traditional political systems have collapsed and civilian rule has been repeatedly challenged.