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Latin American Politics and the Subnational Comparative Method: Vertical and Horizontal Challenges

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2020

Kent Eaton Open the ORCID record for Kent Eaton [Opens in a new window]
Kent Eaton*
Affiliation:
Kent Eaton is a professor in the Department of Politics, University of California, Santa Cruz.
*
[email protected].
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Abstract

Decentralization has triggered widespread use of the subnational comparative method in the study of Latin American politics. Simultaneously, it has created challenges for this method that deserve careful attention. While subnational governments after decentralization can often be treated as potentially autonomous policy jurisdictions, their autonomy is also subject to new constraints and incursions, which may limit scholars’ ability to treat them as relatively independent units. By taking stock of the vibrant literature that has emerged in recent years, this article explores three major challenges that complicate the use of the subnational comparative method. Two are vertical in nature: how to theorize national causes of subnational variation, and how the varied linkages between subnational governments and transnational actors can be conceptualized in work that compares subnational units. The third challenge is horizontal, referring to interactions between governments at the same subnational level that can either enhance or subvert autonomy.

Keywords

decentralizationsubnationalautonomy
Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Politics and Society , Volume 62 , Special Issue 3: The Subnational State in Latin America , August 2020 , pp. 149 - 172
Copyright
© University of Miami 2020

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Footnotes

Conflict of interest: author declares none.

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