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Acknowledgments T his book would not have been possible without the generosity of the many women and men in Chile and Mexico who shared their stories with me. all of them taught me so much—from national political elites with decades of experience to newly minted municipal council members who had never faced an interviewer’s questions. The Fulbright-García robles international scholarship financed my fieldwork in Mexico for this project. Funding from the Fulbright international scholarship, the Harvard Graduate student Council Grant, the david rockefeller Center for latin american studies at Harvard University summer Field research Grant, and a Texas state University research enhancement program Grant allowed me to finance multiple research trips to Chile. The Ford Foundation postdoctoral Fellowship was invaluable in moving this project forward. in santiago, i benefited from the institutional support provided by Harvard University’s david rockefeller Center for regional studies. i am especially indebted to steve reifenberg and Marcela rentería for their support. i also enjoyed affiliation with the Universidad Católica del Maule in Talca, Chile. in Mexico, i was privileged to be associated with the instituto Tecnol ógico autónomo de México. i owe special thanks to alejandro poiré for so generously sharing with me his knowledge of Mexican politics. Jorge i. domínguez, susan pharr, and steven levitsky at Harvard University provided invaluable feedback on the dissertation that informed this project. viii acknowledgments i am grateful to susan Franceschet, Jennifer piscopo, Miki Caul Kittilson , Hillel soifer, Carolyn Warner, Jorge i. domínguez, Celeste Montoya, victoria e. rodríguez, and ana romo for their comments on parts of this work. i am indebted to the anonymous reviewers for helping to make this a much better book. alex Holzman, my editor at Temple University press, also deserves thanks for his encouragement and work on this project. Jeffrey popowski and Jean Crissien merit special recognition for their terrific work as research assistants. My dear friends sarah Kozma, ana romo, Hillel soifer, andrew Karch, and amy risley have been with me every step of the way. i am also grateful to Mala Htun and Kenneth Greene for their generous encouragement over the years. My colleagues at arizona state University are a wonderful bunch. They are a source of constant inspiration and support. My parents have always believed in me and encouraged my intellectual pursuits. My son, roman, now a toddler, deserves my gratitude for introducing me to the literary works of sandra Boynton. Countless readings of Hippos Go Berserk (along with bath times, first words, and all the rest) have put work into perspective. i am most grateful to my husband, daniel Cuaron. His constant quiet support sustains me; his love makes everything better. ...

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