Civil Society and Social Movements: Building Sustainable Democracies in Latin America. Edited by Arthur Domike. Inter-American Development Bank, 2008, 413 pp. $23.00.

Policymaking in Latin America: How Politics Shapes Policies. Edited by Ernesto Stein, Mariano Tommasi, Carlos Scartascini, and Pablo Spiller. Harvard University Press, 2008, 500 pp. $29.95.

Reviewed by Richard Feinberg, University of California, San Diego

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For investors, diplomats, and journalists struggling to comprehend why things work the way they do in Latin America, Policymaking in Latin America is an astute guidebook. Breaking loose from the academic straitjacket of “rigor” that narrows analysis to a few measurable variables, this group of mostly Latin American social scientists takes a more comprehensive approach to policymaking, one in which presidencies, legislators, courts, regulators, civil servants, central bankers, governors, and the multilayered rules that govern interactions among them drive the complex design, implementation, and verification of policy choices. This is not a juicy insider account of policy dramas. Instead, it offers judicious, coherent explorations of local institutions and incentives that yield cooperation or distrust; the “rational” outcomes may or may not serve a broader public purpose. Most frustrating is Argentina, whose dysfunctional culture produces myopic, self-serving, weakly enforced, and highly volatile policies. In sober, successful Chile, in contrast, high-quality, tightly knit political leadership generates farsighted strategies. The policymaking process is improving in Brazil and Colombia, in need of a new consensus in Mexico, and deteriorating terribly in Venezuela. There can be no cookie-cutter path to improvement; institutional reforms must be firmly rooted in local history.

The contributors to Civil Society and Social Movements are less concerned with efficiency and outcomes than they are with participation and process. Whereas the economists Stein and Tommasi fear that large numbers of participants slow and sometimes block timely decision-making, Domike’s associates seek to deepen democracy and transform political culture through a wider inclusion of diverse voices. Speaking of the “bruising nature of democracy,” the Mexican academic and activist Sergio Aguayo grapples passionately with the tensions inherent in many social movements between those who practice a perennial “culture of denunciation” and those who move from protesting to proposing specific policies. A particularly rich and skillful contribution by Joan Caivano and Thayer Hardwick chronicles the progressive advances of Latin American women. They find that increasingly, results-oriented technical nongovernmental organizations focused on policy impact are gaining more funding and influence than traditional social movement groups geared toward feminist consciousness-raising and mobilization.

In his upbeat conclusion, Domike contends that where citizen engagement expands and conflict resolution is smartly practiced, Latin American democracies can become at once more participatory and legitimate and more effective at achieving economic and social development.

Gabriel Murillo Castaño, Professor, Universidad de los Andes, Bogota, Colombia

Louis Wolf Goodman, Dean, School of International Service, American University, Washington DC

Anthony Bebbington, Professor of Nature, Society and Development, University of Manchester, UK

Carolina Tohá, member, Chilean House of Deputies

Enrique Iglesias, President Inter-American Development Bank, 1988-2005; Secretary-general of the Ibero-American Cooperation Secretariat, 2005-

Most of the work on this topic has been dominated by polarized ideological positions. One extreme denounces social movements as instruments of caudillos lacking the legitimacy of political parties and elected representatives. The other extreme sees the movements as the “true” spokesmen of the opposition to the traditional political apparatus dedicated to the protection of the their unmerited privileges. In contrast, Civil Society and Social Movements makes a serious effort to take on the issues professionally. Most of the cases illustrate the central argument of the book: “the increase in organized citizen engagement has already transformed the structure and operations of many governments and political parties, making them more democratic.” This is achieved while recognizing that not all social movements offer positive results. The book also has studies, such as that concerning worker housing in Chile, showing the deficiencies of programs designed and carried out without the participation of any organization of the beneficiaries. The Inter-American Development Bank, Arthur Domike and the authors of the essays in the book make an important contribution to integrated development in Latin America.

Santiago Friedman, World Bank (Retired)