In this book, Luis Roniger offers a comprehensive and systematic discussion of the influence of clientelism and clientelistic relationships in social and political life in Mexico and Brazil. The author describes, analyzes, and compares clientelistic arrangements not only in terms of economic development and social differentiation, but also as a strategy of interaction and control over economic and political markets shaped both by structural factors and cultural patterns. Contrary to some theorists who argue that clientelism disappears following industrialization and modernization, Roniger...

"Finally, a study that moves beyond abstract assertions of the importance of a transnational perspective to demonstrate compellingly why transnationalism matters in the specific context of Central America. This is a rich, interdisciplinary look at regional history, politics, and society--of immense value for students of Latin American studies and transnationalism alike."--Thomas Legler, coeditor of Promoting Democracy in the Americas

Political theorists tend to write about the countries of Central America (Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and...

Political theorists tend to write about the countries of Central America (Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama) either as individual nation-states or as the pawns and victims of international intervention. What these approaches ignore is the shared history of these countries, which were a single nation until domestic and colonial forces dissolved it in the early nineteenth century.

In Transnational Politics in Central America, Luis Roniger argues for the importance of examining the connected history, close relationships and mutual impact...