Since the inauguration of Fernando Henrique Cardoso as Brazil's president in January 1995, the country has progressed steadily toward creating a more open economy and a more institutionalized democracy, although much still remains to be done. Brazil Under Cardoso examines efforts to make Brazil's economy more competitive, its politics more democratic, and its social structure more equitable. The authors also consider the implications of Brazil's reform process for the future of relations between Brazil and the United States.

Susan Kaufman Purcell is vice president of the Americas Society and managing director of the Council of the Americas. She is coauthor of Latin America: U.S. Policy After the Cold War and coeditor of Japan and Latin America in the New Global Order and Europe and Latin America in the World Economy. Riordan Roett is Sarita and Don Johnston Professor of Political Science and director of the Latin American Studies Program at the Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University. He is also the founding director of SAIS's Program on U.S.-Mexico Relations and Center of Brazilian Studies. His numerous publications include The Mexican Peso Crisis, Political and Economic Liberalization in Mexico, and The Challenge of Institutional Reform in Mexico.