Decentralization and Subnational Politics in Latin America

Tulia G. Falleti is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania. Her work on decentralization, federalism, and research methodology has appeared in the American Political Science Review, Comparative Political Studies, Publius, Qualitative Sociology, Critique Internationale (France), Desarrollo Económico (Argentina), Política y Gobierno (Mexico), and Sociologias (Brazil), as well as in edited volumes published in the United States, Argentina, and Brazil. She has received awards and fellowships from the Social Science Research Council, the United States Institute of Peace, the Ford Foundation in conjunction with the Latin American Studies Association, and the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Productive Innovation of Argentina. In 2006, she earned the Gregory Luebbert Award from the American Political Science Association for the best article in comparative politics for her article 'A Sequential Theory of Decentralization: Latin American Cases in Comparative Perspective.'

• 1. Decentralization and the revival of subnational politics; 2. A sequential theory of decentralization and the intergovernmental balance of power; 3. Argentina: the national dominance path to decentralization; 4. Colombia: the subnational dominance path to decentralization in a unitary country; 5. Brazil: the subnational dominance path to decentralization in a federal country; 6. Mexico: the subnational response path to decentralization; 7. Conclusion: decentralization, temporal analysis, and territorial politics; Appendix: in-depth interviews.

“Sequence analysis meets subnational politics in this must-read study of decentralization in Latin America. Drawing on extensive original research in four countries, Falleti uses a new ‘comparative sequence method’ to show how decentralization reforms varyingly empower subnational political actors depending on when and in what order they are adopted. This fascinating argument is a shining example of the power of comparative-historical analysis and will become a touchstone for all future research on subnational politics in Latin America.” —James Mahoney, Northwestern University