Latecomer State Formation : Political Geography and Capacity Failure in Latin America

Latin American governments systematically fail to provide the key public goods for their societies to prosper. This book argues this is because nineteenth-century Latin American state-formation occurred in a period when commerce, rather than war, was the key driver forging countries. Latin American leaders pursued the benefits of international trade at the cost of long-term liabilities built into the countries they forged, notably patrimonial administrations and dysfunctional regional combinations. The book begins with a background on comparative state-formation, introducing the idea that the timing of state-formation in world history is crucial. It develops a theory that explains cases of state-formation with and without state building. It also lays the groundwork for the study of comparative state-formation and highlights the difference between state-formation and smaller-scale political processes. The book examines the two processes of state-formation: territory consolidation and violence monopolization. It then considers how the state-formation in Latin America occurred under extremely auspicious international economic and geopolitical conditions. The book concludes that the nineteenth-century state-formation is a key to understanding some of the most pressing issues in contemporary Latin America. It suggests that some paths of state-formation do not lead to state building, and a subset of them create durable obstacles it. A major contribution to the field of comparative state formation and the scholarship on long-term political development of Latin America Ambitious and rich. . . . A sweeping and general theory of state formation and detailed historical reconstruction of essential events in Latin American political development. It combines structural elements with a novel emphasis on the political incentives and bargaining that shaped the map we have today.Hillel David Soifer, Governance Latin American governments systematically fail to provide the key public goods for their societies to prosper. Sebastin Mazzuca argues that the secret of Latin Americas failure is that its states were born weak, in contrast to states in western Europe, North America, and Japan. State formation in post-Independence Latin America occurred in a period when capitalism, rather than war, was the key driver forging countries. In pursuing the short-term benefits of international trade, Latin American leaders created states with chronic weaknesses, notably patrimonial administrations and dysfunctional regional combinations. Mazzuca analyzes pathways leading to variations in country size and level of port-led state formation in Argentina and Brazil; party-led in Mexico, Colombia, and Uruguay; and lord-led in Central America, Venezuela, and Peru. "Latin American governments systematically fail to provide the key public goods for their societies to prosper. Sebastián Mazzuca argues that the secret of Latin America’s failure is that its states were “born weak,” in contrast to states in western Europe, North America, and Japan. State formation in post-Independence Latin America occurred in a period when capitalism, rather than war, was the key driver forging countries. In pursuing the short-term benefits of international trade, Latin American leaders created states with chronic weaknesses, notably patrimonial administrations and dysfunctional regional combinations. Mazzuca analyzes pathways leading to variations in country size and level of pacification: “port-led” state formation in Argentina and Brazil; “party-led” in Mexico, Colombia, and Uruguay; and “lord-led” in Central America, Venezuela, and Peru."-- Site de l'éditeur "A major contribution to the field of comparative state formation and the scholarship on long-term political development of Latin America. Latin American governments systematically fail to provide the key public goods for their societies to prosper. Sebastian Mazzuca argues this is because nineteenth-century Latin American state formation occurred in a period when commerce, rather than war, was the key driver forging countries. Latin American leaders pursued the benefits of international trade at the cost of long-term liabilities built into the countries they forged, notably patrimonial administrations and dysfunctional regional combinations."-- Provided by publisher A major contribution to the field of comparative state formation and the scholarship on long-term political development of Latin America

Latin American governments systematically fail to provide the key public goods for their societies to prosper. Sebastián Mazzuca argues this is because nineteenth-century Latin American state formation occurred in a period when commerce, rather than war, was the key driver forging countries. Latin American leaders pursued the benefits of international trade at the cost of long-term liabilities built into the countries they forged, notably patrimonial administrations and dysfunctional regional combinations.