This book analyses the institutional development that the Peruvian state has undergone in recent years within a context of rapid extractive industry expansion. It addresses the most important institutional state transformations produced directly by natural resources growth. This includes the construction of a redistributive law with the mining canon; the creation of a research canon for public universities; the development of new institutions for environmental regulation; the legitimation of state involvement in the function of prevention and management of conflicts; and the institutionalization and dissemination of practices of participation and local consultation.

The breadth of Peru's culture from pre-Columbian times to today is surveyed in this one-stop reference. Modern Peru emerges as an ethnically divided nation progressing toward social integration of its heavily Indian and Hispanic population. Ferreira and Dargent, native Peruvians, illustrate how the diverse geography of the country--the Andes, coast, and jungle--has also had a role in shaping cultural and social expression, from history to art.

Further exploring the influence of Spanish colonialism and its modern blending with Indian traditions, this volume covers the legacy of the Incas and Machu Picchu, providing an authoritative overview of how the citizenry and major cultural venues, such as the church, media, and arts, have evolved. A chronology and glossary supplement the text.

Praised by some as islands of efficiency in a sea of unprofessional, politicized and corrupt states, and criticized by others for removing wide areas of policy making from the democratic arena, technocrats have become prominent and controversial actors in Latin American politics. Nonelected state officials with advanced educations from top universities, technocrats achieve considerable autonomy from political and economic actors and exert great influence over their countries' fates. This finding poses an intriguing paradox. These experts lack an independent base of authority, such as popular election, and the tenure enjoyed by professional bureaucrats. What, then, explains the power of technocrats in democratic Latin America? Why do they enjoy and maintain greater policy influence in some areas than in others? Through analysis of economic and health policy in Colombia from 1958 to 2011 and in Peru from 1980 to 2011, Technocracy and Democracy in Latin America answers these and other questions about experts in Latin America.