We don't think about institutions until they fail and we think of institutions as being really strong when maybe they've never been challenged. They've never really tried to do anything.

Daniel Brinks

A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com or a short review of The Politics of Institutional Weakness in Latin America here.

Daniel Brinks joins the podcast to discuss his new book The Politics of Institutional Weakness in Latin America. He is the coeditor along with Steven Levitsky and María Victoria Murillo. Dan is a professor of Government and of Law at the University of Texas at Austin and a Senior Researcher & Global Scholar of the Centre on Law and Social Transformation.

Key Highlights

• What is institutional weakness?
• How does it differ from state capacity?
• How does civil society affect political institutions?
• What is the role of constitutions?
• How do Presidential systems affect other political institutions?

Key Links

The Politics of Institutional Weakness in Latin America edited by Daniel M. Brinks, Steven Levitsky, and María Victoria Murillo

Department of Government at The University of Texas at Austin where Daniel Brinks teaches

Centre of Law and Social Transformation at the Christian Michelsen Institute in Norway where Daniel Brinks is a Senior Researcher & Global Scholar

Related Content

Donald Horowitz on the Formation of Democratic Constitutions

William G. Howell and Terry M. Moe on the Presidency

More from the Podcast

More Information

Democracy Group

Apes of the State created all Music

Email the show at [email protected]

Follow on Twitter @DemParadox

Follow on Instagram @democracyparadoxpodcast

100 Books on Democracy

Support the show