“This volume provides a penetrating analysis of Latin America’s urban social and political landscape in the aftermath of market reform. Collier and Handlin and their collaborators draw upon a wealth of cross-national survey data to identify the new patterns of grassroots participation and civic association that have emerged in major urban centers, often in the void left by the decline of historic labor-based party and union organizations. Their empirically rich account helps explain how new associational networks have emerged to articulate popular demands and provide public services, and how these new social actors relate to governmental authorities and political parties. Anyone who wants to understand how the social bases of political representation have been transformed in Latin America’s neoliberal era should start with this book.”

—Kenneth M. Roberts, Cornell University

“Using a comparative perspective that is often lacking in the literature, this important book provides original insights on many aspects of associational participation and patterns of interaction between associational networks and political action. The book should be of strong interest to scholars interested in contemporary trends in the interaction between civil society and the state in South America.”

—Roberto Patricio Korzeniewicz, University of Maryland

“Collier, Handlin, et al. are to be congratulated on this volume. Its scope of inquiry and the care with which the whole effort was carried through are both remarkable, and it absolutely represents a distinct step forward in our understanding of how and why mass politics in Latin America not only operates but also has changed over time.”

—Henry A. Dietz Journal of Latin American Studies