Institute of Development Studies

Biography

Dr Andres Mejia Acosta is a political scientist whose current research looks at how the political management of natural resource revenues affects development goals. His work "Informal Coalitions and Policymaking in Latin America" (New York: Routledge, 2009) looks at how formal and informal political institutions produce policy reforms in Latin America and the Caribbean. Publications include articles and book chapters on electoral systems, political parties, legislative politics, budget politics, the policymaking process, informal institutions, and democratic governance. He has done consulting work for Club de Madrid, The Carter Center, Eurasia Group, Freedom House, United Nations Development Programme, the Inter American Development Bank and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. Andrés has been Co-Convenor of the Research Programme on Revenue Collection and State Capacity for the Centre for the Future State. He is currently working on a book manuscript on the political management of natural resource revenues in the Andean region.

Selected Projects and Recent Work

• Analysing Nutrition Governance
• Review of UN Country Teams Engagement

Thematic Expertise

Governance; Democracy; Public Policy; State Capacity; Politics and Power.

Geographic Expertise

Latin America and the Caribbean; Bolivia; Ecuador; Honduras; Jamaica; Peru.

Selected Publications »»

• Mejía Acosta, A. (2011) 'Analysing Success in the Fight against Malnutrition in Peru', IDS Working Paper 367, Brighton: IDS
• Mejía Acosta, A. and Polga-Hecimovich, J. (2011) 'Coalition Erosion and Presidential Instability in Ecuador', Latin American Politics and Society 53.2:87-111, Wiley
• Mejía Acosta, A and Albornoz, V (2010) 'Rente pétrolière et politique budgétaire en Équateur', Revue Internationale de Politique Comparée 17.3
• Mejía Acosta, A. and Pereira, C. (2010) 'Policymaking in Multiparty Presidential Regimes: A Comparison between Brazil and Ecuador', Governance 23.4:641-666, Wiley-Blackwell
• Basabe-Serrano, S., Pachano, S. and Mejía Acosta, A. (2010) 'La democracia inconclusa: Derechos fundamentales, instituciones políticas y rendimientos gubernamentales en Ecuador (1979-2008)', Revista de Ciencia Política 30.1:65-85, Santiago: Instituto de Ciencia Política de la Universidad Católica de Chile.
• Mejia Acosta, A. and Polga-Hecimovich, J. (2010) 'Parliamentary Solutions to Presidential Crises in Ecuador' in Llanos, M. and Marsteintredt, L. (eds), Presidential Breakdowns in Latin America: Causes and Outcomes of Executive Instability in Developing Democracies, Palgrave Macmillan
• Mejía Acosta, A. (2009) Informal Coalitions and Policymaking in Latin America: Ecuador in Comparative Perspective, New York: Routledge
• Albornoz, V., Araujo, C.M. and Mejia Acosta, A. (2009) 'The Political Economy of the Budget Process: The Case of Ecuador' in Scartascini, C., Stein, E. and Hallerberg, M. (eds), Who Decides the Budget? A Political Economy Analysis of the Budget Process in Latin America, Cambridge: Harvard University Press
• Mejía Acosta, A. (2009) Por el ojo de una aguja: la formación de políticas públicas en el Ecuador, Quito: Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO)
• Mejía Acosta, A. and de Renzio, P. (2008) 'Aid, Rents and the Politics of the Budget Process', IDS Working Paper 311, Brighton: IDS
• Araujo, C., Mejía Acosta, A., Pérez Liñán, A. and Saiegh, S. (2008) 'Veto Players, Fickle Institutions and Low-Quality Policies: The Policymaking Process in Ecuador' in Spiller, P., Stein, E. and Tommasi, M. (eds), Political Institutions, Policymaking Processes and Policy Outcomes, Harvard: Harvard University Press
• Mejia Acosta, A. (2006) 'Crafting Legislative Ghost Coalitions in Ecuador: Informal Institutions and Economic Reform in an Unlikely Case' in Helmke, G. and Levitsky, S. (eds), Informal Institutions and Democracy: Lessons from Latin America, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Mejia Acosta, A., Pérez Liñán, A. and Saiegh, S.M. (2006) 'The Partisan Foundations of Legislative Particularism in Latin America' (Spanish version available), Social Science Research Network
• Mejia Acosta, A. (2006) 'Thin Air for Democratic Governance in the Andes', Harvard Review of Latin America. David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies 1