This paper seeks to understand why political actors, institutions and legal reforms have systematically failed to produce cooperation in the Ecuadorian policymaking process. From a comparative and historical standpoint, Ecuador has been trapped in a cycle of low-quality public policies that fail...

This case study of Venezuela's democratic institution and policymaking processes is part of the broader regional project based on the theoretical framework developed by Spiller, Stein and Tommasi (2003). The framework focuses on the conditions that foster political cooperation among political...

This paper analyses the dynamics of policy-making among the various political institutions in Brazil. The authors find that the driving force behind policies in Brazil is the strong set of powers given to the President, though several institutions constrain and check this power, in particular...

This paper characterizes the evolution of Paraguay's policymaking process (PMP) between 1954 and 2003. The authors present an overview of the PMP under the rule of Alfredo Stroessner (1954-89) and explore the institutional setting emerging after 1989. In addition, they discuss how the Colorado...