ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the actors involved in making policy and looks at the process of policymaking. There are various actors that play roles in the process of policymaking in Latin America. Effective policymaking involves significant control over the resources of the state, and may involve control of the government itself as well. One of the safest and most enduring generalizations about the policy process in Latin American politics concerns the extent to which the process is dominated by the executive, especially in the person of the president. At the opposite pole from Costa Rica are Mexico and Cuba, both of which are examples of almost total executive hegemony in policymaking. Most people who think of Cuba think immediately of Fidel Castro. While the Cuban executive is, like that of Mexico, a supremely dominant policymaking actor, there are many systemic differences.
