Introduction: Focus and Book Outline

Public administration is a crucial element of governance. The legislature, presidents and other political executives, courts, and even social actors such as unions may very well be involved in governance, but the day-to-day work of delivering public policies to citizens and advising political leaders is done by the public administration. Despite their central role in governance, there is still inadequate knowledge about these institutions in Latin America.

Although there have been individual studies over different aspects of public administration in Latin American countries, a comprehensive analysis aimed at understanding historical trends, similarities, and differences among countries is not available. From an academic perspective, this deficiency in the literature has also undermined the capacity to place Latin American cases within the broader comparative perspective. Having a comparative perspective will of course facilitate learning across systems and further understanding of public administration reform worldwide.