We don't think about institutions until they fail and we think of institutions as being really strong when maybe they've never been challenged. They've never really tried to do anything.Daniel BrinksA full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com or a short review of The Politics of Institutional Weakness in Latin America here.Daniel Brinks joins the podcast to discuss his new book The Politics of Institutional Weakness in Latin America. He is the coeditor along with Steven Levitsky and María Victoria Murillo. Dan is a professor of Government and of Law at the University of Texas at Austin and a Senior Researcher & Global Scholar of the Centre on Law and Social Transformation.Key HighlightsWhat is institutional weakness?How does it differ from state capacity?How does civil society affect political institutions?What is the role of constitutions?How do Presidential systems affect other political institutions?Key LinksThe Politics of Institutional Weakness in Latin America edited by Daniel M. Brinks, Steven Levitsky, and María Victoria MurilloDepartment of Government at The University of Texas at Austin where Daniel Brinks teachesCentre of Law and Social Transformation at the Christian Michelsen Institute in Norway where Daniel Brinks is a Senior Researcher & Global ScholarRelated ContentDonald Horowitz on the Formation of Democratic ConstitutionsWilliam G. Howell and Terry M. Moe on the PresidencyMore from the PodcastMore InformationDemocracy GroupApes of the State created all MusicEmail the show at jkempf@democracyparadox.comFollow on Twitter @DemParadoxFollow on Instagram @democracyparadoxpodcast100 Books on DemocracySupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/demparadox)