Promise of Participation

To what extent does participation in one particular domain of public life lead to wider participation in other areas? Through the use of an unprecedented survey supported by case studies this book explores how participatory governance in community-managed schools can alter the civic and political behaviour of participants.

'In 'The Promise of Participation,' Altschuler and Corrales paint a rich, compelling picture of the impact of community managed schools on democratic participation in isolated communities in Guatemala and Honduras. Their use of statistical analysis to construct the framework and case studies to gain a deeper understanding of the underlying causal mechanisms and impediments to broader community involvement provides an outstanding example of mixed-methods research that weaves the quantitative and qualitative components together in complementary ways that raise the value of each.' - Steven Rivkin, Department of Economics, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA This a remarkably useful study of one of Latin America's most radical education experiments - community managed schools (CMS). Rooted in theory and based on data, it argues that in Guatemala and Honduras CMS promoted democracy by strengthening the political capabilities of the poor. Few studies do such a great job of connecting micro to macro. - Jeffrey Puryear, Vice-President of Social Policy, Inter-American Dialogue, USA

Daniel Altschuler holds his doctorate in Politics from the University of Oxford, UK, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar.   Javier Corrales is Professor of Political Science at Amherst College, Amherst, USA.