ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests that the position that domestic power structures and domestic policy initiatives are equally important. The political challenges of equitable development in Latin America are substantial; they involve a reduction in the policy influence of the extremely powerful winners of the last decades and an increase in policy access for those who have historically been disempowered as well as those whose influence has been reduced. The notion of a governing coalition assumes that the president especially those in the most important economic portfolios, members of Congress from the president’s party or, if he lacks majority control, a sufficient number of members from opposition parties, support the policy goals of poverty reduction and equitable development as national priorities. The experience of market reform has exaggerated certain political features of the Latin American reality – features that present important challenges to policies conducive to equitable development and poverty alleviation.
