Review by Choice Review
Pribble (Univ. of Richmond) explores reforms taken by left-leaning governments in Latin America to determine whether they have produced significant changes in levels of poverty and inequality. Her study focuses on Chile and Uruguay, with secondary focus on Argentina and Venezuela. It explores whether policy reforms in education, health care, and family assistance in these countries universalize coverage, whether they are administered in a transparent manner, whether they ensure quality public services in the size of income transfers, and the extent to which the financing mechanism is equitable and sustainable. Although none of these countries have achieved "pure universalism" with their policy changes, Chile and Uruguay made health care and noncontributory social assistance reforms that Pribble ranks as "advanced." She contrasts Chile, with its top-down rule, and Uruguay, with policy changes based on bottom-up coalition building, and examines the advantages and disadvantages of each style. She also observes that the personalistic, nonprogrammatic rule in Argentina and Venezuela have been impediments to universalism. She further notes that fiscal considerations have deterred meaningful policy reforms, while electoral competition has promoted them. Summing Up: Recommended. Undergraduate, graduate, and research collections. S. L. Rozman Tougaloo College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
