The Woodrow Wilson Center Press
Crucial Needs, Weak Incentives: Social Secor Reform, Democratization, and Globalization in Latin America
Chosen as a Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2005
Robert R. Kaufman and Joan M. Nelson
A book launch event was held with the authors at the Wilson Center on January 12, 2004.
Crucial Needs, Weak Incentives studies the politics of efforts to reform education and health services in Latin America in the 1990s. Both sectors were common targets of reform—education because of its economic importance, health care because of needs to reduce great inequities of access and opportunities to increase domestic savings presented by reforms. Both sectors also have large numbers of unionized public employees, whose presence affects patronage as well as political power.
The book presents case studies that offer a wealth of new information not previously accessible to the English-speaking academic and policy community. For health care, these cover Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Peru; for education, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. Four chapters by the editors set out for each sector the goals, structure, and outcomes of reform efforts.
Contributors are Marta Arretche, Josefina Bruni Celli, Mary A. Clark, Javier Corrales, Sônia M. Draibe, Christina Ewig, Alec Ian Gershberg, Alejandra González Rossetti, Merilee S. Grindle, Peter Lloyd-Sherlock, Pamela S. Lowden, and Patricia Ramírez.
What People are Saying
"This is an excellent book that provides a much-needed, thorough, and comprehensive analysis of decision making in two crucial areas of social policy in Latin America: education and health care. It will serve as a very important point of reference for the academic and policy community for years to come."—Kurt Weyland, department of government, University of Texas at Austin
Chapter List
Tables and Figures
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations and Acronyms
1 Introduction, Robert R. Kaufman and Joan M. Nelson
Part One The Politics of Health Sector Reforms
2 The Politics of Health Sector Reforms: Cross-National Comparisons, Joan M. Nelson
3 Change Teams and Vested Interests: Social Security Health Reform in Mexico, Alejandra González Rossetti
4 Ambitious Plans, Modest Outcomes: the Politics of Health Care Reform in Argentina, Peter Lloyd-Sherlock
5 A Sweeping Health Reform: the Quest for Unification, Coverage and Efficiency in Colombia, Patricia Ramírez
6 Toward a Unified and More Equitable System: Health Reform in Brazil, Marta Arretche
7 Reinforcing a Public System: Health Sector Reforms in Costa Rica, Mary A. Clark
8 Piecemeal but Innovative: Health Reforms in Peru, Christina Ewig
Part Two The Politics of Education Sector Reforms
9 The Politics of Education Reform: Cross-National Comparisons, Robert R. Kaufman and Joan M. Nelson
10 Interests, Institutions, and Reformers: The Politics of Education Decentralization in Mexico, Merilee S. Grindle
11 Multiple Preferences, Variable Strengths: The Politics of Education Reforms in Argentina, Javier Corrales
12 Education Reform in Colombia: The Elusive Quest for Effectiveness, Pamela S. Lowden
13 Federal Leverage in a Decentralized System: Education Reforms in Brazil, Sônia M. Draibe
14 Empowering Parents While Making Them Pay: Autonomous Schools and Education Reform Processes in Nicaragua, Alec Ian Gershberg
15 Innovation and Frustration: Education Reform in Venezuela, Josefina Bruni Celli
Part Three Conclusions
16 Conclusions: The Political Dynamics of Reform, Robert R. Kaufman and Joan M. Nelson
Contributors
Index