Tracy Beck Fenwick is director of the Australian Centre for Federalism and lecturer in political science at the School of Politics and International Relations, Australian National University.
This book puts into stark relief an argument that has only been made implicitly so far: that governors are to be avoided if federal governments in Latin America are to successfully put forth antipoverty policies. The question or pursuit is well stated: to examine why Brazil and Argentina had differing outcomes from similarly designed CCTs. The answer the author provides is that differences in federalism are key: While the setup in Brazil is such that the federal government can bypass governors, the national government in Argentina does not have the opportunity within its federal system to truly bypass the provinces and put through national policy in an equitable fashion throughout the territory. Rather, municipalities in Argentina are captured by the provincial level. --Wendy Hunter, University of Texas at Austin Fenwick's very useful book compares the implementation of anti-poverty programs in Brazil and Argentina. . . Fenwick also makes the interesting (and counterintuitive) argument that the extreme party fragmentation in Brazil may have actually been an advantage there. --Choice Fenwick's book is a superb example of the power of political science to offer penetrating insights by coordinating the nuances of policy, history, and institutional configuration. --Hispanic American Historical Review