Analyzes the function of informal institutions in Latin America and how they support or weaken democratic governance. This work examines how informal rules shape the performance of state and democratic institutions, offering insights into contemporary problems of governability, and unrule of law.

PrefaceIntroductionPart I. The Informal Politics of Executive-Legislative Relations1. Accommodating Informal Institutions and Chilean Democracy2. How Informal Electoral Institutions Shape the Brazilian Legislative Arena3. Crafting Legislative Ghost Coalitions in Ecuador: Informal Institutions and Economic Reform in an Unlikely CasePart II. Informal Institutions and Electoral Politics4. Informal Institutions When Formal Contracting Is Prohibited: Campaign Finance in Brazil5. The Difficult Road from Caudillismo to Democracy: The Impact of Clientelism in Honduras6. Do Informal Rules Make Democracy Work? Accounting for Accountability in ArgentinaPart III. Informal Institutions and Party Politics7. The Birth and Transformation of the Dedazo in Mexico8. Election Insurance and Coalition Survival: Formal and Informal Institutions in Chile9. Informal Institutions and Party Organization in Latin AmericaPart IV. Informal Judicial Institutions and The Rule of Law10. The Rule of (Non)Law: Prosecuting Police Killings in Brazil and Argentina11. Mexico's Postelectoral Concertacasiones: The Rise and Demise of a Substitutive Informal Institution12. Dispensing Justice at the Margins of Formality: The Informal Rule of Law in Latin AmericaConclusionAfterword: On Informal institutions, Once AgainNotesReferences

One of the most interesting and illuminating works on Latin American politics to appear in recent years. -- Joe Foweraker Journal of Latin American Studies 2007 Rich in empirical material and in provoking theoretical questions. -- Julian Durazo Herrmann European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies 2007