This timely volume describes the origins of Mercosur, South America’s dynamic and successful regional integration project, as well as the issues still to be tackled regarding the trade bloc’s expansion, the challenges to its transition from a customs union to the “Common Market of the South,” and its relations with other trade groups and countries (particularly the European    More >

The black/white gaps in income, education, and wealth are expanding. Prisons are crowded with black men. There is an increasing concentration of urban poverty. While individuals and communities reject biological determinism and find bigotry offensive, structural inequalities remain. Why? Addressing this fundamental question, Carter Wilson focuses on the elusive dynamics of contemporary    More >

Ice. Methedrine. Crank. Crystal. Whatever its guise, the social and political contexts of methamphetamine share a certain uniqueness. Nicholas Parsons chronicles the history and mythology of methamphetamine in the United States from the 1940s—when it was hailed as a wonder drug—to the present. In an intriguing analysis, he also makes an important contribution to our understanding of    More >

This is one the first books to examine crime trends from a metropolitan-wide perspective. Topics include: the “hardening” of the inner city; crime in suburbia; mobility patterns of offenders; the effect of neighborhood characteristics on crime; variations in police expenditures, and others.    More >

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the partnership between Mexico and the United States? What might be done to improve it? Exploring both policy and process, and ranging from issues of trade and development to concerns about migration, the environment, and crime, the authors of Mexico and the United States provide a comprehensive analysis of one of the world’s most complex bilateral    More >

For a century beginning in the 1750s, Europe and the Americas underwent a series of profound political, economic, and social changes, ushering in the modern era. This book examines the experience of Mexico during that "age of democratic revolutions." Among the specific issues examined in the book are the policies of Jose de Galvez, political transformations in colonial Sonora and    More >

Mexico made a peaceful transition to democracy when it elected opposition candidate Vicente Fox president in July 2000—an event that has had a profound impact on the country's political system, its economic and social policy, and its international relationships. Mexico Under Fox examines the elements of continuity and change found in Mexico today.   The authors consider the    More >

Following a turbulent year of political and social upheaval, Ernesto Zedillo Ponce was inaugurated as Mexico's president in December 1994. Soon thereafter, the collapse of the peso forced a reorientation of the country's political, economic, and social policies and priorities, with the new vulnerability of the long-entrenched PRI regime reflected in the 1997 local elections. Mexico Under Zedillo    More >

Painting a sober yet hopeful picture of current Mexican politics and economics, Mexico's Democracy at Work focuses on the country's still incomplete transformation from an authoritarian system, as well as the many challenges that exist within the new, more democratic context. The authors pay particular attention to both domestic and international economic dynamics and to Mexico's    More >

Mexico's presidential elections in July 2000 brought victory to National Action Party (PAN) candidate Vicente Fox—and also the hope of democratic change after decades of single-party rule. Tracing the key themes and dynamics of a century of political development in Mexico, David Shirk explores the evolution of the party that ultimately became the vehicle for Fox's success. Shirk    More >