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Acknowledgments Among the people whose thoughts have stimulated my own are several professors , colleagues, and friends whose contribution to my work is hard to measure. I am ‹rst and foremost very grateful to my dissertation committee, who supervised this project when it ‹rst came into being: Terry Karl (chair), Geoffrey Garrett, Terry Moe, and Philippe Schmitter. This group of individuals brought a rich and diverse set of talents to the table and represents—I believe—the very best of what Stanford University’s Department of Political Science had to offer in the 1990s. I thank them for having the con‹dence in me to back what was at the time an unusual path for a student of comparative politics at Stanford. By throwing their support behind this project, they helped me—and others—to see that some of our discipline’s seemingly greatest divides are not so insurmountable after all. In particular, I thank Terry Karl for her careful and considered knowledge of Latin America and for reminding me, in both her comments and her example, that what we do should always have some bearing on the real world. I am also eternally grateful for her unwavering support through years of grant proposals and job applications, support that re›ects her deeply committed and proactive approach to graduate student advising. I thank Terry Moe for those early conversations in which we shaped the broad contours of the argument and for pushing me always to see the project in its biggest light. I am grateful for Philippe’s extensive and penetrating comments on draft after draft of dissertation chapters and for his letting me know—early on—that he believed in what I was doing. Finally, I am especially indebted to Geoff Garrett , who did all of the above and then some. Without Geoff, I am quite sure that the entire endeavor would never have gotten off the ground. Along the way, I also bene‹ted greatly from discussions with various individuals who read or commented on different portions of this project. In particular, I would like to acknowledge the advice and suggestions of Robert Bates, Jorge Buendía, Don Coursey, Alberto Díaz, Jorge Domínguez, Sven Feldmann, Jeffry Frieden, Robert Franzese, Brian Gaines, Charles Glaser, Lloyd Gruber, Stephan Haggard, Jeanne Kinney-Giraldo (several times!), Joseph Klesner, Stephen Krasner, Beatriz Magaloni, Kenneth Oye, Carlos Perez-Verdúa, Peter Smith, Duncan Snidal, Susan Stokes, and Barry Weingast . The argument is all the stronger for their input. I am also deeply indebted to my ‹ne research assistants at both MIT and the University of Chicago, including Ayhan Akman, Bela Prasad, Jayne Stancavage, Cesar Velásquez, and especially Douglas Bell. I received material assistance during the course of working on this project from the Social Science Research Council, the Institute for the Study of World Politics, the Institute for International Studies of Stanford University, and the North America Forum at Stanford University. I also thank Stanford University’s Center for Latin American Studies for providing me with of‹ce space and a congenial work environment during a crucial portion of my initial write-up period, as well as the Irving B. Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago for similar generosity. Finally, I thank the Department of Political Science at MIT for providing me with the space and time to ‹nish the ‹rst draft of this book free of other obligations. During my year at MIT, I bene‹ted greatly from the rich and vibrant academic community that de‹nes Cambridge. I am especially grateful to those at MIT—Steve Ansolabehere, Ricky Locke, Ken Oye, and Jim Snyder— who made a major effort to smooth my way into my ‹rst year of professional teaching and research, as well as to those at Harvard University who involved me in their seminars and gave me a chance to present my work. Since I have come to Chicago, my work has continued to pro‹t enormously from the unique intellectual experience that is the University of Chicago. In this regard, I would like to recognize ‹rst and foremost my colleagues at the Irving B. Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies, who have taught me again and again the value of interdisciplinary exchange, while not allowing me to get away with any “hand waving” in my arguments. I have also bene‹ted tremendously from the workshops around campus that form the core of the intellectual enterprise at the University of Chicago...

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