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Governance in the Americas, a multidisciplinary volume, offers important new insights about decentralization, federalism, and democratic change in the three largest federal nations in the Americas: Brazil, Mexico, and the United States. Originating in a major research project conducted by teams in each of the three countries, this study contributes significantly to our understanding of how representative and participatory democracy is being constructed at state and local levels in the recently emerged democracies of Brazil and Mexico, and is being recast and sustained in the United States. The contributors evaluate the performance of subnational governments, as these societies become more genuinely decentralized, and as new actors and managerial routines create and implement public policy. The authors challenge the criticism of “exceptionalism” in the United States, seeking instead to understand the points of convergence and divergence among the three countries as each seeks to improve the effectiveness and public accountability of its policy-making processes.
Collaborators include Marta Ferreira Santos Farah, Lawrence S. Graham, Pedro Jacobi, and Allison M. Rowland.
“The 21st century has brought a new interest in studying the relationship between structures of government and democracy. This book, focusing on three countries in the Americas, is a thorough and important example of the substantive consequences of recent decisions related to centralization and decentralization. It should be on the bookshelves of students of federalism and intergovernmental relations around the globe.” —Beryl A. Radin, American University
Victoria E. Rodríguez is vice provost and dean of graduate studies at the University of Texas at Austin and the Ashbel Smith Professor of Public Affairs.