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SOCIAL-SECTOR REFORM, LATIN AMERICAN STYLE
DECENTRALIZING DEVELOPMENT. THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE IN COLOMBIA AND CHILE. By Allan Angell, Pamela Lowden, and Rosemary Thorp. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. Pp. 240. $45.00 cloth.)
HEALTHCARE REFORM AND POVERTY IN LATIN AMERICA. Edited by Peter Lloyd-Sherlock. (London: Institute of Latin American Studies, University of London, 2000. Pp. 197. $19.95 paper.)
IMPROVING THE ODDS: POLITICAL STRATEGIES FOR INSTITUTIONAL REFORM IN LATIN AMERICA, By Carol Graham, Merilee Grindle, Eduardo Lora, and Jessica Seddon. (Washington, D.C.: Inter-American Development Bank, 1999. Pp. 45. $10.95 paper.)
MYTH, REALITY, AND REFORM: HIGHER EDUCATION POLICY IN LATIN AMERICA. By Claudio de Moura Castro and Daniel C. Levy. (Washington, D.C.: Inter-American Development Bank, 2000. Pp. 116. $19.95 paper.)
PENSIONES EN AMERICA LATINA: DOS DECADAS DE REFORMA. Edited by Alejandro Bonilla Garcia and Alfredo H. Conte-Grand. (Lima: Oficina Internacional del Trabajo, 1998. Pp. 259.)
REFORMING HEALTH AND EDUCATION: THE WORLD BANK, THE IDB, AND COMPLEX INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE. By Joan M. Nelson. (Washington, D.C.: Overseas Development Council, 1999. Pp. 103. $13.95 paper.)
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN LATIN AMERICA: THE POLITICS OF REFORM. Edited by Joseph S. Tulchin and Allison M. Garland. (Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner, 2000. Pp. 272. $22.00 paper.)
When market-oriented economic policies as advocated by the socalled Washington consensus swept Latin America in the 1980s, many observers were quick to point out correctly that the social question had been largely neglected. During those initial years, social policy entered a reductionist phase consistent with the neoliberal orthodoxy that encouraged a "lean state." Social-investment funds became the fashion. They incorporated many characteristics that arguably made them suitable for addressing the needs of the poor: they were decentralized, autonomous, demand-driven, participatory, low in cost, and fast-disbursing. By the early 1990s, however, the social question had expanded into a broader dimension. Reform-minded countries and international lending banks became interested in social-sector reform, particularly in the areas of health and education.
Known also as "second-generation reforms" or "second-stage reforms," social-sector reforms are viewed as pivotal for reducing poverty, sustaining market-oriented economic policies, and even consolidating democratic regimes. A key question underlying these reform efforts is how to construct better and more capable state institutions, hence the idea of "institutional reform" as emphasized by Carol Graham, Merilee Grindle, Eduardo Lora,...