Part of the International Library of Policy Analysis series, this book provides the first detailed examination of the practice of policy analysis in Mexico. Whilst shaped by the legacy of the Mexican state's colonial history as well as by recent social, economic and political developments, the study of policy analysis within Mexico provides important comparative lessons for other countries. Contributors study the nature of policy analysis at different sectors and levels of government as well as by non-governmental actors, such as unions, business, NGOs and the media, promoting the use of evidence-based policy analysis, leading to better policy results. The book is a vital resource for academics and students of policy studies, public management, political science and comparative policy studies.

"One of the definite merits of this book is to cleverly mix a theoretical breakthrough with a meticulous historical and empirical account of the transformations of some key Latin American countries. First, it is at the frontier of a research agenda initiated back to the end of the 1970s, second it clearly distinguishes between an ideal-type approach and the complexity of any specific national configuration and its transformation in history. Furthermore, the author provides decisive arguments against a pure economic determinism too frequently supposed to govern institutions building and reforms. Last but not least, the book culminates by an impressive analysis of the crises that quite any Latin America society experiences at the end the 2010s." -Robert Boyer, Institut des Ameriques, Paris, France. This book defends the idea that there are significant structural and institutional differences between the countries in Latin America. Building off the results of a four-year research project, Bizberg argues against the idea that in Latin America there is one single type of capitalism-a hierarchical one-that is entangled in a vicious cycle. Rather, there are clusters of countries that have had similar historical trajectories, analogous structures, or comparable reactions to changes to the world economy, but have not all followed the same mode of development. Just as analysts have found a variety of capitalisms in developed countries, it is possible to identify the emergence of different types of capitalism in Latin America since the 1980s debt crisis. These varieties of capitalism are defined according to categories-including the articulation to the world economy, the role of the State, the structure of the political system and the action of civil society-which give rise to distinct wage relations, comprising the industrial relations system and the welfare regime.