ABSTRACT
After re-democratization (1985), Uruguay underwent a process of pension reform through which its traditional pay-as-you-go system was replaced by a mixed public-private scheme. Concurrently, in the area of education the public system greatly expanded, but in health care the government was unable to advance its reform proposal, leaving the system unchanged. This chapter shows that these contrasting patterns of policy change are explained by the distribution of governmental authority, the ability of extra-governmental veto players to block reform attempts, and the ideological positions of policy makers.
