This innovative textbook focuses on the policy approach as a systematic tool for understanding Latin American political life and then outlines policymaking variations among the Latin American regimes. The authors introduce the student to the study of policymaking by examining various theoretical perspectives and then grounding those perspectives in

Steven W. Hughes is a professor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at California State College, Stanislaus. Kenneth J. Mijeski is an associate professor of political science at East Tennessee State University. They are the coauthors of Legislative-Executive Policy-Making: The Cases of Chile and Costa Rica (1973).

Preface -- Approaches to the Study of Policymaking -- Actors in the Policymaking Process -- Policymaking in Military Regimes -- Policymaking in Democratic Regimes -- Policymaking in Postrevolutionary Regimes -- Patterns of Public Policy -- The Impact of Public Policy