​This book explores pendular politics in Latin America, focusing on electoral cycles with a pattern of similar results. Latin America has been neoliberal in the 1990s, leftist during the 2000s, then conservative in 2016-2018 and progressist again since 2018. The reference to a right/left/right/left sequence over a period of thirty years undoubtedly accounts for a singular pendulum pattern yet proves to be excessively simplistic. The right/left dichotomy hides fractures and nuances that characterize each political camp. This book seeks to explain why some elections result in alternations and others do not. Based on an innovative theoretical framework and a unique collection of case studies, the book offers a rich understanding of Latin America’s contemporary political evolutions. Voters are getting accustomed to punishing incumbents for not delivering in time of crises, resulting in frequent alternations. It might be good for democracy, not so much for governability.

This book explores the relationship between Latin America and China, and how it affects Latin American states in regard to other international actors. It investigates how Latin America and China influence each other, and discusses their respective roles in the world.

"Corruption vulnerabilities exist where government officials have power over the provision of goods and the imposition of costs. Building permits and infrastructure contracts are examples of state-issued goods. Traffic tickets and tax liabilities are examples of costs levied by the state. These and other corruption vulnerabilities turn to actual threats when officials calculate that the benefits of abusing their power are greater than the penalties associated with getting caught. By a similar logic, the formula for corruption control requires increasing the probability of detecting corruption (that is, of activating the eye) through enhanced monitoring and then credibly threatening to apply the appropriate penalty in response to wrongdoing (cracking the whip). Notably, the common policy response to corruption often emphasizes only the first of the two mechanisms. Governments prioritize transparency measures but avoid the risks associated with confronting corruption. Therefore, as a means to improve on the current state of affairs, this book examines distinct approaches to promoting accountability, especially accountability among the set of unelected officials responsible for regulating the built environment. It analyzes the results of field experiments on corruption control conducted in the City of Querétaro in central Mexico, urban and peri-urban districts in Peru, and two of New York City's boroughs. The book contributes evidence-based recommendations for how societies can go about fighting bureaucratic corruption"--

Despite democratization at the national level, local political bosses still govern many municipalities in Latin America. Caudillos and clans often use informal political practices—ranging from clientelism and patronage to harassment of political opposition—to control local political dynamics. These arbitrary and, at times, abusive practices pose important challenges to how Latin American democracy works and how power is exercised after the decentralization reforms in the region. These reforms promised to bring the government closer to the people and to promote popular participation. In many cases, these ideals are unmet, and newly empowered local politicians have been able to turn municipalities into personal fiefdoms. This book explores how local caudillos stay in power and why some are more successful than others in retaining office. Tomáš Došek provides an in-depth analysis of six cases from Chile, Paraguay, and Peru to show the strategies that caudillos pursue to secure power and the mistakes they commit that drive them out.

This book explores key metropolitan management issues, presents practical principles of good governance as they apply to the metropolis, and unfolds cases of institutional and programmatic arrangements to tackle such issues.

Through his voluminous and in?uential writings, editorial activities, organi- tional leadership, intellectual acumen, and strong sense of history, Clifford - brose Truesdell III (1919–2000) was the main architect for the renaissance of - tional continuum mechanics since the middle of the twentieth century. The present collection of 42 essays and research papers pays tribute to this man of mathematics, science, and natural philosophy as well as to his legacy. The ?rst ?ve essays by B. D. Coleman, E. Giusti, W. Noll, J. Serrin, and D. Speiser were texts of addresses given by their authors at the Meeting in memory of Clifford Truesdell, which was held in Pisa in November 2000. In these essays the reader will ?nd personal reminiscences of Clifford Truesdell the man and of some of his activities as scientist, author, editor, historian of exact sciences, and principal founding member of the Society for Natural Philosophy. The bulk of the collection comprises 37 research papers which bear witness to the Truesdellian legacy. These papers cover a wide range of topics; what ties them together is the rational spirit. Clifford Truesdell, in his address upon receipt of a Birkhoff Prize in 1978, put the essence of modern continuum mechanics succinctly as “conceptual analysis, analysis not in the sense of the technical term but in the root meaning: logical criticism, dissection, and creative scrutiny.