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vii Acknowledgments As with all academic projects, this one has been a collaborative effort. I would like to express, above all, my deep gratitude to the authors of the chapters in this volume for their excellent articles and their infinite patience. I would also like to thank the other participants at the project’s two workshops, held in Washington, D.C., in March and July of 2010, for their valuable contributions to our debates. This show of gratitude is particularly deserved in the cases of Michael Pinto-Duschinsky and Marcin Walecki, two world-class experts on comparative political finance from whose talent, advice, and friendship several of the authors in this book have long benefited. Indeed, this project stems from a casual conversation with Marcin in early 2009. Theadministrative,research,andeditorialsupportof DianaPadilla,Fernanda López, Consuelo Amat, and Marian Vidaurri was essential in ensuring the volume would see the light of day. I would also like to thank my former colleagues at the Brookings Institution, especially Ted Piccone, who kindly invested part of his holidays poring over an earlier version of the text and making suggestions to improve it. Janet Walker, of the Brookings Institution Press, deserves a thank you for shepherding this book through its final stages. Thisresearchendeavorwouldhavenotbeenpossiblewithoutthegeneroussupport of the Open Society Institute, which David Holiday and Sandra Dunsmore played a key and much appreciated role in securing. The same applies to the funders of the Latin America Initiative at Brookings Institution, particularly the Liberty Mutual Group and a kind donor who has asked to remain anonymous. I initiated this project during a very enjoyable stint as a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.I have since moved to the Organization of American States (OAS). Therefore, it is appropriate for me to stress that nothing I write here can be attributed to the OAS or its secretary general. Interpretations and conclusions herein are the responsibility of myself and the other contributors alone. ...

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