New Book—Crafting Policies to End Poverty in Latin America: The Quiet Transformation

Professor De La O’s book provides a theory and evidence to explain the initial decision of governments to adopt a conditional cash transfer program (the most prominent type of antipoverty program currently in operation in Latin America), and whether such programs are insulated from political manipulations or not. She shows that whether presidents limit their own discretion or not has consequences for the survival of policies, their manipulation, and how effective they are in improving the lives of the poor. This book is the first of its kind to present evidence from all Latin American CCTs.

Ana Lorena De La O is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Yale University, where she is a member of the Council on Latin American and Iberian Studies at the MacMillan Center. Her research relates to the political economy of poverty alleviation, clientelism, and the provision of public goods. Her work has appeared in the American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics, Comparative Political Studies, the Quarterly Journal of Political Science, and the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences.