Abstract

Using 18 national reports evaluating the state of the relation between money and politics in each country, this study shows how the regulatory capacity of Latin American states has evolved. To this end, the author proposes a classification of Latin American regulatory systems based on five "models" that differ functionally in the relative weight of their public and private components (state financing, restrictions on private contributions, etc.). In the light of some US and German studies that are also cited in the article, it concludes with a warning about the possible perverse effects which some types of regulation could have.