Shaping the Political Arena - (Kellogg Institute Democracy and Development) by Ruth Berins Collier & David Collier (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Ruth Berins Collier and David Collier are political scientists who use comparative historical research to discover and evaluate patterns and sources of political change. Their work is an overall analysis of Chile, Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Venezuela, and Mexico, plus case studies of four distinct pairs in that group: Chile/Brazil, Uruguay/Colombia, Argentina/Peru, and Venezuela/Mexico. In addition, the Colliers meticulously describe and discuss their methods for the study including the limitations of their approach. The authors specifically focus on why and how organized labor movements in the first half of the twentieth century were incorporated into the political process in the eight Latin American countries they study. They analyze the role played by political parties, central government control, worker mobilization, and conflict between radical vs. centrist political philosophies and activities.

Review Quotes

"... Colliers' mammoth tome remains among the most significant contributions to the field of comparative political science ... [It] is an indispensable point of reference both for students of comparative politics in twentieth-century Latin America and for comparativists interested in state-society relations in late industrializing societies throughout the world. Shaping the Political Arena is destined to remain among the classic works of Latin Americanist scholarship that contribute to disciplinary debates that reach far beyond the region itself." --Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies

"Massive in scope, ambitious in its conceptual reach, and encyclopedic in detail, Shaping the Political Arena is destined to stand as a landmark in the literature for years to come." --Studies in Comparative International Development

"This book is a disciplined, paired comparison of the eight Latin American countries with the longest history of urban commercial and industrial development--Brazil and Chile, Mexico and Venezuela, Uruguay and Colombia, Argentina and Peru. . . . Overall, a path-breaking volume." --Foreign Affairs

"This is a monumental work, a tour de force. It is one of the most important books in the field of Latin American politics in several years." --American Political Science Review

"This massive, ambitious, and wide-ranging book advances our understanding of modern Latin American politics by identifying the historical moment when forces emerged and relations were crystallized in ways that shaped subsequent political life." --The Review of Politics

"To paraphrase the book's title, this masterful work deserves to shape the intellectual arena for social scientists and historians for years to come." --Political Science Quarterly

About the Author

Ruth Berins Collier is professor of political science at the University of California, Berkeley.

David Collier is professor of political science at the University of California, Berkeley.