Politics Within the State - (Pitt Latin American) by Ben Ross Schneider (Paperback)

About the Book

Ben Ross Schneider analyzes how Brazil's bureaucracy of politics and personalism has effectively contributed to state-led industrialization in the post-1945 era.

Book Synopsis

Brazil was one of the most successful examples of state-led industrialization in the post-1945 era. Yet, on the surface, the Brazilian bureaucracy appears highly fragmented, personalized, and ad-hoc. Ben Ross Schneider looks behind this fau00e7ade to explain how the Brazilian bureaucracy contributes to industrialization by analyzing career patterns and appointments which structure incentives and power more than formal organizations or institutions. Politics and personalism, of the right sort, Schneider argues, can in fact enhance policy effectiveness and state capacity.

Review Quotes

In this admirably written analysis of bureaucratic politics in Brazil, Ben Schneider seeks to understand that country's impressive state-led industrialization drive under the military regime (1964-85). . . .It is a tribute to the richness and comprehensiveness of Schneider's analysis that, although the logical progression of his argument is clearly discernible in the book's organization, these sections also stand on their own. . . . One closes this book feeling that the author has delivered not only what he promised, but more.-- "Industrial and labor Relations Review"

Schneider has made a major contribution to the study of Brazilian politics and comparative administration. This book provides a promising approach to analyzing the possible links between bureaucratic careers and types of policy outputs."-- "Journal of Developing Areas"

Schneider opens windows into the mysterious and opaque inner workings of the state by mapping the interrelatedness of policy-making, policy content, and political stability. . . .[Schneider] also employs innovative and rigorous methodology in its examination of decisions to industrialize.-- "Transaction"

This lively and important book is an account of the triumphs and failures at the vanguard of Brazilian policy-making represented by the steel and mining sectors. . . . The book is fun to read. Schneider writes suspiciously well. . . . Politics with the State brings us closer to placing the terrible enigma of Brazil in comparative perspective.-- "American Political Science Review"

About the Author

Ben Ross Schneider is professor of political science at Northwestern University.