Sebastian Mazzuca
@SLMazzuca
Followers
10,738
Following
283
Media
1,500
Statuses
8,665
Political Science, Political Economy, Latin American History ... and high- and low-quality gossip about Argentine politics.
The Americas
Joined May 2011
Don't wanna be here?
Send us removal request.
Explore trending content on Musk Viewer
#HouseofThedragon
• 319023 Tweets
GIRLFREEN ALWAYS WITH FREEN
• 112651 Tweets
Rhaenyra
• 101592 Tweets
#HOTD
• 96721 Tweets
Uruguay
• 92393 Tweets
Chino
• 90053 Tweets
Nicolas
• 81985 Tweets
Criston Cole
• 76355 Tweets
Daemon
• 72213 Tweets
VEMOS GH POR FURIA
• 65098 Tweets
Jana
• 61379 Tweets
Otto
• 60990 Tweets
Andrea
• 59286 Tweets
Panamá
• 55116 Tweets
Aegon
• 49968 Tweets
トレード
• 43555 Tweets
Erryk
• 39977 Tweets
Darwin
• 32882 Tweets
Dario
• 25397 Tweets
Danielle
• 23616 Tweets
Aemond
• 21924 Tweets
#MasterChefCelebrity
• 18992 Tweets
Bautista
• 17703 Tweets
ひたちなか
• 15062 Tweets
emma vich
• 13997 Tweets
Camilo
• 13834 Tweets
若林楽人
• 12432 Tweets
Pinned Tweet
CEPAL. Nueva visión 2024. Tres trampas que impiden progreso en América Latina. Creo que la tercera trampa está emparentada con la del libro de la derecha.
4
32
95
If you teach Latin American politics, this site is phenomenal.
If you do not teach Latin American politics, this site is phenomenal.
28
476
2K
Good one-sentence summaries of big books
"Middle class, then democracy"
"No bourgeoisie, no democracy"
"No revolutionary threat, no democracy"
"States made war, war made states"
"No population density, no state capacity"
"The later the industrialization, the stronger the state"
13
305
2K
Best 20th century book in Political Sociology? Let's exclude Max Weber for the competition to be fair.
Some great candidates. Errors and omissions? I had a hard time choosing a single work by Bourdieu, Offe, and Giddens.
27
199
967
Libros de súper académicos para el público general--mis favoritos:
15
162
957
Books that persuaded me that State Formation is one of the most important topics in Political Science---and in the process blew my mind.
Only three are about Europe, and only two are by political scientists
15
110
680
Books by superstars in academia that were written for the general public. My favorites:
6
87
655
1-sentence summaries of big books
"Middle class, then democracy"
"No bourgeoisie, no democracy"
"No revolutionary threat, no democracy"
"States made war, war made states"
"No population density, no state capacity"
"The later the industrialization, the stronger the state"
4
125
647
Political Regimes: Origins of Modern Democracies and Dictatorships
Macroscopic Approaches: Marxists (1st row) versus Weberians (2nd row)
One of the best debates between and within theoretical schools in the Social Sciences
1/2
5
94
621
6 explanations of L America's econ backwardness in up to 6 words
1) Dependency
2) Corporatist culture
3) Weak linkages b/w sectors
4) Colonial institutions shaped by natural endowments
5) Colonial institutions designed by imperial powers
6) Dysfunctional political geographies
9
115
614
Big Political Economy + Strong Micro-foundations. 1/2
Pioneer texts (apologies for omissions).
Will explain why in 2/2.
3
83
562
Descomunal este sitio.
Y si te dedicás a la política y el desarrollo de América Latina, te mejora la vida profesional un 67%.
5
111
529
Sociology for economists and political scientists. These books provide a great sense of what Big Social Theory is.
Some contain phenomenal reviews of the founding fathers--Durkheim, de Tocqueville, Marx, Weber.
3
97
529
Macri es el primer político desde Alfonsín que muestra olfato del humor social argentino una o dos movidas antes que el peronismo.
7
85
524
"No class conflict, no democracy." All books below agree.
Simple but controversial claim. Some people think that "if conflict, no democracy" (Lipset). And some people (me included) think that conflicts other than class conflicts may also produce democracy.
5
65
521
Best political science book of the 20th century?
Some candidates in "pure" political science (i.e., excluding political sociology, political economy, and international relations).
What is missing?
44
92
502
Lula's victory requires de-mystifying lazy analogies on "left turns" in Latin America
Difference between PT (Brazil) and Peronismo (Argentina) is twofold:
PT is a programmatic party, born outside the state.
Peronsimo is 95% a patronage party, born deep inside the state.
4
71
475
If I were to choose just eight books to start the transition from Political Scientist to Political Economist, these would be them:
13
74
473
Economic Development in East Asia versus Latin America
Why massively divergent paths after WWII?
Six key readings (Evans Chapter in Deyo's book is phenomenal)
8
97
461
The "Authoritarian Turn" in the study of comparative political regimes is super interesting and important (2nd row).
Precursors were great too (1st row).
3
96
452
Fundamental books for doing serious political analysis that were not written by nor intended for political scientists. 1/2 (I'll explain in 2/2).
1
54
427
Economic History of Colombia
Learn a lot with only six books
(I will do a Political History of Colombia soon, including Melo, Posada Carbó, Bushnell, and Deas)
15
85
438
The State: after toiling with Max Weber, Otto Hintze, Chuck Tilly, and Perry Anderson, I thought I had mastered the topic. Then I read this:
4
61
429
Está de moda decir que Milei es parte de una ola global de ultra derecha.
Es menos perezoso (y más interesante) verlo como un efecto natural de la larga agonía de la Argentina peronista.
14
71
393
Two major technological revolutions shaped politics and society as we know them today: the Military (first row) and the Industrial one (second). They both originated in Western Europe but had durable, global repercussions.
I wish I knew this when I was in college and I wish had
2
84
390
Best political economy book of the 20th century?
A bunch of candidates
25
61
385
Desarrollo Económico
Textos fundamentales de la Economía Política del Desarrollo, con introducción mía.
Muchos traducidos por 1ra vez al castellano. Descarga gratis!
Qué más querés? Que te sirva un macchiatto con leche de almendra y cardamomo?!!!
9
113
382
Dear Friends and Colleagues. I have been appointed as Associate Editor of Democratization, a great journal becoming even better. I will be in charge of handling manuscripts focusing on the US, Canada, and Latin America (in a word, the Americas). Consider submitting your work on
25
49
369
One of the best threads in political science of 2023.
What paths or sequences of democratization & state building are more likely to end in democracies with capable states? Is there only 1 viable path? What determines progress toward a high-capacity democracy?
This long🧵summarizes claims related to these question made in 6 books👇
16
501
2K
3
64
361
Latin America's economy in the long run.
Six essential books. Three about the region as a whole; three about individual countries (soon one TW just on Argentina, and one on Brazil).
14
69
362
Best social scientist since WW2
I tentatively vote for Albert Hirschman
You?
52
41
345
Rapidito
1) Bullrich es el nuevo centro (electoral, no ideológico)
2) Voto castigo más fuerte de la historia argentina (previsible)
3) Voto castigo muy subaprovechdo por el PRO (poco previsible dado (2))
4) Dudosa supervivencia del kirchnerismo y más dudosa la continuidad de
5
61
330
The laaasting legacies of the Middle Ages
But what Medieval Institutions Shaped What Modern Institutions? Super short summaries in super short 🧵
1/2
8
41
324
Varieties of Capitalism
A global process--modern capitalism--has multiple national expressions. And within countries, variations across subnational units and economic sectors exist.
What are the sources of variation?
What is the impact on economic and social performance?
8
62
311
Marxism. Most scholars experienced its spell at some point.
Six books that caused the extinction of Marxist myths by showing: the autonomous power of the state, the pervasive role of individual incentives, the impact of historical contingency, and the value of democracy.
5
57
304
"State autonomy is a variable"
Among the simplest statements in political analysis, this is probably the most important one.
Deeply Weberian and unambiguously anti-Marxist.
1
36
295
6 explanations of L America's econ backwardness in up to 6 words
1) Dependency
2) Corporatist culture
3) Weak linkages b/w sectors
4) Colonial institutions shaped by natural endowments
5) Colonial institutions designed by imperial powers
6) Dysfunctional political
10
70
302
Are you studying for your CP comprehensive exam, and need a robust map summarizing and connecting the arguments by Barrington Moore, Tilly, Ertman, Downing, RSS, etc.?
A link to the article I wrote when I was in that stressful situation (Comparative Politics, October 2010):
8
55
290
Latin America's Economic Backwardness
What period, institutions and policies to blame? Colonial (1st row) or post-Colonial ones (2nd row)?
With mostly genuine apologies for the self-promotion at the end.
4
47
282
Entender la Historia Económica Argentina con 10 libros
15
53
280
***
Erosión Democrática
O'Donnell y Zakaria habían anticipado el fenómeno hace treinta años con los conceptos de democracia delegativa y democracia iliberal. La idea original es de O'Donnell. Zakaria no hace innovación conceptual (sin citar a O'Donnell) pero amplía alcance
4
70
274
I have read many great summaries and simplifications of Barrington Moore's "Social Origins." Here is mine, trying to minimize the number of variables needed to sort out his cases:
9
47
263
In college I was a voracious reader of Political Theory. I thought PT was my vocation. I became a Political Economist instead.
Yet, the books👇still influence the ways I think much more heavily than Riker. I wish I had read more PT. Too late? Knee-deep in History and Models now.
2
30
255
Me encantan los mapas. Éste siempre me llamó la atención, aunque no sabría cómo sacarle jugo.
6
17
242
Hace una semana Borón apostaba su biblioteca, con absoluta seguridad, a que Massa ganaba de taquito. Después de las elecciones, literalmente sostiene sobre el triunfo de Milei:
46
49
243
La ultraderecha es fea, sucia y, sobre todo, MALA.
Pero el progresismo woke llegó a un punto tan pediátrico que todo pensamiento no woke--inlcuso el sentido común--es acusado de ultra.
Creo que es la segunda amenaza más fuerte contra la democracia.
10
51
245
Despite the causal inference revolution, traditional Comparative Politics about big questions is perhaps living a golden age we are failing to perceive.
And this is a very non-exhaustive and quick selection ...
0
61
238
Rapidísimo resumen de Guillermo O'Donnell
1) Las estructuras económicas pueden causar dictadura
2) Las acciones políticas pueden causar democracia
3) La calidad de Estado afecta la calidad de democracia
4) Los líderes populares de hoy pueden matar a la democracia de mañana
4
42
236
The Economic History of Argentina
How to understand a lot of it with only six books
9
28
231
Going in the opposite direction.
If I were to choose just eight books to start the transition from Economist to Political Economist, these would be them. 1/2. I'll explain in 2/2.
If I were to choose just eight books to start the transition from Political Scientist to Political Economist, these would be them:
13
74
473
7
35
232
¿Por qué Argentina no fue Australia? 🇦🇷🇦🇺
Porque:
1) Enviudó mal de Inglaterra (Halperín)
2) Perón dirigió de arriba en tres años una industrialización que Menzies & Co. acompañaron de costado por décadas (Gerchunoff)
3) Mala suerte con minerales (casi todos)
4) Mala suerte
66
29
218
Argentina evitó la peruanización profundizando la argentinización.
7
34
209
The durable legacies of the Middle Ages
But what Medieval Institutions Shaped What Modern Institutions? Super short summaries in super short 🧵
1/3
3
45
210
Seis libros que cambiarán por completo tu forma de entender los orígenes de Estados Unidos. ¡Qué bueno ser un especialista en formación del Estado sobre los hombros de estos gigantes de la historia!
4
33
212
Amazed by "On Wars." Great combo of historical wisdom and theoretical power.
Macrohistorical analysis, at its best, makes the most lasting contributions to the social sciences. But it is a risky endeavor: many try, few succeed. Michael Mann is a super champion.
1
42
203
Americanists in History and Political Science have been producing amazing research.
@AdamSheingate
and I are trying to figure out the US experience of state formation and capacity building--contrasts and similarities with Western Europe and Latin America.
This is great stuff:
8
35
199
Servicio a quienes busquen doble titulación o que quieran estudiar Economía Política en serio.
Cinco libros que me impulsaron a estudiar Economía (arriba); cinco libros que hicieron que Economía me gustara tanto como Ciencia Política (abajo).
2
33
200
Political Economy for Political Scientists. If you are skeptical about the value of models, these 5 pieces will change your mind for two reasons.
1) They deal with HUGE outcomes--of Marx/Weber-scale.
2) Math produces insights that verbal languages cannot.
4
30
187
Argentina's self proclaimed libertarian president, Javier Milei, just published a book the cover of which showcases Singapore as his model society. Yet, neither Singapore's economy nor polity are too liberal, let alone libertarian. 1/2
8
46
189
My dad just died. Sorry if I am not available. Traveling fast to Buenos Aires. I will be out of circulation. I am using this medium in order to avoid individual messages. Muerte repentina de mi padre. No puedo contestar mensajes individuales. Así que aviso por esta vía. En 16
67
2
188
CEPAL. Nueva Visión en tres puntos.
Creo que la trampa número tres está muy emparentada con esto:
1
35
186
If I had to summarize the argument of a book with 1 image.
Si tuviera que resumir el argument de un libro con 1 imagen.
1/5.
5
42
185
Como las dictaduras, antes que ser de izquierda o derecha, los populismos son populismos.
Populismo de izquierda no se soluciona con populismo de derecha. Se soluciona sin populismo.
2
55
186
Puedo resumir los guasaps con amigos del PRO, la UCR y el gobierno en una paradoja:
Lo más probable es que Juntos gane cualquier ballotage (contra Milei o Massa). Pero lo más probable es que Juntos no llegue al ballotage.
17
11
184
Aunque el marxismo contiene mucha más ficción que teoría, algunos libros marxistas son indiscutiblemente brillantes. Mi top 3 explicado. 🧵👇🏻
10
23
183
Phenomenal article by Mainwaring and Pérez-Liñán. Just out. Open access.
Project MUSE - Why Latin America's Democracies Are Stuck
4
47
182
Recién. Mi libro sobre formación de países y problemas de capacidad en AmLat disponible en Kindle (algo salado, no es mi culpa ni interés). Mi abuela dice que es el mejor libro del mundo.
16
34
182
More on Historical Institutionalism in the social sciences. Historians thinking about methods made potentially huge contributions that are yet very underused. To select three: 1) Oakeshott notion of conjuncture (richer than our notion of "juncture"); 2) Braudel's temporalties
For Historical Institutionalism in Political Analysis, classical sources are from sociology or economics:
1) Weber's metaphor of the "switchman" on a train track.
2) Stinchombe's "historical causes."
3) Arthur's "path dependence."
All 3 in books 👇. Will provide contemporary
0
19
138
2
39
175
Democratic Survival
Is it a structural issue, about which politicians do not have much to do (first row), or is it the outcome of the relation between leaders of government and opposition (second row), where their actions affect the chances of survival on a daily basis?
4
35
171
¿Mexico Estado fallido en la post-Independencia? Así lo cuentan casi todos los libros, mexicanos o anglos. Pero la verdad es: NO! O "no tanto". Es cierto que Mexico era grande en 1822. Incluía América Central, Texas, California, Arizona. Es cierto que perdió la mitad norte a
5
49
172
Argentina
Nunca vi un gobierno tan obviamente desastroso desde el punto de vista de la economía o la ciencia política profesionales
Notable el miedito a decirlo con todas las letras.
6
37
170
Uso esta tabla para enseñar conceptos básicos de ciencia política desde 2010.
Como siempre hay lío en el mundo, no hay drama en actulizarla.
También la uso, cambiando eventos, para tomar examen.
No me pregunten si les va mejor a los chicos de licenciatura o de maestría.
6
19
167
Los cuatro autores que mataron al Marxismo:
Alfred Marshall (fuente del valor)
Max Weber (autonomía de Estado),
Joseph Schumpeter (valor de la innovación)
Mancur Olson (acción colectiva)
Eso no quiere decir que varias cosas del marxismo no sobrevivan y sean valiosas
15
23
165
Alternative territorial futures of Latin America in 1825-1865
Colossal countries--Bra, Arg, Mex--could have fragmented (1st row)
Small countries could have unified (2nd row)
For more or less prolonged periods, they were realities
6
29
161
Queridos amigos y colegas. Soy nuevo Editor Asociado de Democratization, una gran revista que está mejorando aún más. Estaré a cargo del manejo de manuscritos enfocados en Estados Unidos, Canadá y América Latina (en una palabra, las Américas). Consideren enviar su trabajo sobre
3
37
164
Gran acuerdo nacional
Feletti y Terrabusi pactaron congelar precio de la Rhodesia por 90 minutos
7
22
154
Guillermo O'Donnell
My favorite three articles by the man. And a testimony of how extraordinarily encouraging he was (extracted from Contrapuntos, a book containing the three articles and many more).
5
12
152
OK. People who replied to my prior list demand that I include quite a few candidates to best "pure" political science work in the 20th century. Excluded are books I did not read or of less than top quality.
Yet, some people (rightly) questioned the notion of "pure." I will
Best political science book of the 20th century?
Some candidates in "pure" political science (i.e., excluding political sociology, political economy, and international relations).
What is missing?
44
92
502
6
27
149
Phenomenal idea. 6 +
1) Exit, Voice, Loyalty (Hirschman)
2) Corporatism versus Pluralism (Schmitter)
3) Authoritarianism versus Totalitarianism (Linz)
4) Feudalism versus Capitalism (Marx)
5) Bureaucracy vs Patrimonialism (Weber)
6) Regime-makers, takers, breakers (Krasner)
10 concepts or conceptual distinctions all social scientists should understand.
References in 🧵
2
44
227
6
30
149
And for my own book, a 1-sentence summary could be:
"Trade also makes states, but it makes weaker states than war"
Thanks to
@SlaterPolitics
for suggesting it.
1-sentence summaries of big books
"Middle class, then democracy"
"No bourgeoisie, no democracy"
"No revolutionary threat, no democracy"
"States made war, war made states"
"No population density, no state capacity"
"The later the industrialization, the stronger the state"
4
125
647
3
9
149
In South America, income per capita, the standard measure of material prosperity, is five times larger than in tropical Africa but five times smaller than in the advanced economies of the North Atlantic. Why? 👇
5
23
144
Verdad. Después le colocó deuda a Chávez y a tendores locales. A una tasa considerablemente mayor.
Y después de eso, a partir de 2007, deficit de Cristina hizo inevitable la reestructuración del Bonden 2015.
O sea: pagó al FMI e inclumpió con jubilados.
6
40
142
Dos Revoluciones Tecnológicas de hace tres siglos o más son la madre de la política y la sociedad de hoy: la Militar (primera fila) y la Industrial (segunda). Ambas se originaron en Europa occidental, pero tuvieron repercusiones globales duraderas.
Estamos viviendo la Tercera.
4
44
142
For Historical Institutionalism in Political Analysis, classical sources are from sociology or economics:
1) Weber's metaphor of the "switchman" on a train track.
2) Stinchombe's "historical causes."
3) Arthur's "path dependence."
All 3 in books 👇. Will provide contemporary
0
19
138
Amigos: tres enormes diferencias entre Trump y Milei. Trump secuestró (y en parte destruyó) un partido tradicional. Milei creó uno nuevo. Trump no entiende nada de Economía. Cero. Rústico como Kicillof. Milei entiende mucho de Economía. Quizá demasiado en el sentido de que
40
17
140
Although Marxism contains much more fiction than theory, some Marxist books are undisputedly brilliant. My top
3 in 4-part 🧶👇🏻
5
26
138
Gold, silver, and bronze
in 20th-Century Democratic Theory
0
26
138
Ya me puedo retirar
Ruth Collier escribió una review de "Latecomer State Formation".
Castigo previo a publicación es proporcional a generosidad posterior
Copio fragmentos que son puro autobombo. No puedo evitarlo. Amiga pero nunca miente.
11
8
132
The US in comparative perspective. Exasperatingly, there is not much. But the little there is, is phenomenal. Arguably the area in the social sciences where most work is needed.
7
27
129
Ante la espantosamente baja calidad de las ofertas electorales en América latina (salvo Uruguay) es incomprensible la intensidad con la que gente educada abraza ciegamente una oferta y estigmatiza infantilmente la otra.
Es hora de la rebelión de la ilustración y la tolerancia.
11
33
130
Los téoricos de Milei
2 económicos (que recita de memoria)
2 políticos (que desconoce olímpicamente)
Los que desconoce:
Michels: la teoría de la casta
O'Donnell: la del león popular, iluminado y salvador
5
20
129
Liberalismo y Democracia, la tensión vista por Ortega y Gasset, antes que Hayek, Borges y Bobbio. Más claro que el agua, que el agua clara.
3
28
129
Methods books that taught me the most and that I have to consult almost all the time.
Libros de métodos que más me enseñaron y que tengo que consultar casi todo el tiempo.
2
28
127
22 años más tarde, a Milei lo aclaman por la versión XXL del ajuste por el que habían decapitado a López Murphy.
La dura pedagogía del kirchnerismo.
9
20
123
Populismo latinoamericano pide democratización
Lo que hay que cambiar no es forma de ACCESO al poder
Hay que cambiar forma de EJERCICIO del poder, que no está en agenda
Y el problema del ejercicio no es que es autoritario, sino que es PATRIMONIALISTA (apropiación del Estado)
4
25
122
+
Regímenes Políticos: Democracia versus Dictadura
Textos fundamentales de la Economía Política de las trayectorias de régimen. Estudio introductorio mío.
Descarga gratis! Qué más querés? Que te de un tour por Porto Empedocle, Sicilia?!!!
Explicación y link en 2/3 y 3/3.
2
31
124
Theories of democratization
1) Parties cause regime change. Proximate but obvious cause.
2) Classes cause regime change. Distant but incomplete cause.
3) Classes cause regime change through party coalitions. 💪
0
32
122
Yo que ustedes estaría muy pero muy atento a oportunidades postdoctorales para politólogos y economistas en el TEC de México, una universidad de excelencia global. Ampliaremos.
1
26
119