1.The Political Origins of Institutional Weakness / Maria Victoria Murillo
2.When (Electoral) Opportunity Knocks: Weak Institutions, Political Shocks, And Electoral Reforms In Latin America / Gabriel Negretto
3.The Stickiness Of "Bad" Institutions: Constitutional Continuity And Change Under Democracy / Victor Menaldo
4.Presidential Crises In Latin America / Gretchen Helmke
5.Coercion Gaps / Alisha C. Holland
6.Aspirational Laws As Weak Institutions: Legislation To Combat Violence Against Women In Mexico / Francesca R. Jensenius
7.The Social Determinants Of Enforcement: Integrating Politics With Limited State Capacity / Eduardo Dargent
8.A Multilevel Approach To Enforcement: Forest Protection In The Argentine Chaco / Candelaria Garay
9.What/Whose Property Rights?: The Selective Enforcement Of Land Rights Under Mexican Liberalism / Juan F. Gonzalez Bertomeu
10.Imported Institutions: Boon Or Bane In The Developing World? / Andrew Schrank
11.Social Origins Of Institutional Strength: Prior Consultation Over Extraction of Hydrocarbons In Bolivia / Tulia G. Falleti
12.Conclusion / Daniel M. Brinks, Steven Levitsky, María Victoria Murillo

"Analysts and policymakers often decry the failure of institutions to accomplish their stated purpose. Bringing together leading scholars of Latin American politics, this volume helps us understand why. The volume offers a conceptual and theoretical framework for studying weak institutions. It introduces different dimensions of institutional weakness and explores the origins and consequences of that weakness. Drawing on recent research on constitutional and electoral reform, executive-legislative relations, property rights, environmental and labor regulation, indigenous rights, squatters and street vendors, and anti-domestic violence laws in Latin America, the volume's chapters show us that politicians often design institutions that they cannot or do not want to enforce or comply with. Challenging existing theories of institutional design, the volume helps us understand the logic that drives the creation of weak institutions, as well as the conditions under which they may be transformed into institutions that matter."--Descripción del editor