Ben Ross Schneider
Ford International Professor of Political Science
Director, MIT Chile Program
Business politics; political economy; education politics; industrial policy; business groups; comparative capitalism; social policy; Latin America; Brazil.
Biography
Ben Ross Schneider is the Ford International Professor of Political Science and director of the MIT Chile program. Prior to joining the department in 2008, Schneider taught at Princeton University and Northwestern University.
Professor Schneider's teaching and research interests fall within the general fields of comparative politics, political economy, and Latin American politics. His books include Reinventing Leviathan: The Politics of Administrative Reform in Developing Countries (2003), Business Politics and the State in 20th Century Latin America (2004), Hierarchical Capitalism in Latin America: Business, Labor, and the Challenges of Equitable Development (Cambridge University Press, 2013), Designing Industrial Policy in Latin America: Business-Government Relations and the New Developmentalism (2015), and New Order and Progress: Democracy and Development in Brazil (Oxford University Press, 2016). He also has published on topics such as democratization, technocracy, education politics, the developmental state, business groups, industrial policy, and comparative bureaucracy.
Research
Schneider's current research projects include a broader comparative analysis of the politics of education reform in middle income countries with a special theoretical focus on the roles of teacher unions and business. Other projects focus on business politics, innovation policies, and inequality in Latin America.
Schneider's research has been supported by the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study, the Fulbright Program, the Social Science Research Council, the Searle Foundation, the Kellogg Institute, the Heinz Foundation, the Tinker Foundation, and the Inter-American Foundation. Schneider also has a strong interest in contemporary policy debates and has consulted for the Ford Foundation, the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank, the Global Development Network, the United Nations Research Institute for Social Research (UNRISD), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the governments of Brazil and the United States. He has also been active in promoting a new research network, Red de Economía Política de América Latina, Repal.
Recent Publications
Routes to Reform: Education Politics in Latin America. Oxford University Press. 2024. (Open Access pdf).
“Business and Development: How Organization, Ownership, and Networks Matter.” (with Ignacio Puente). Review of International Political Economy, February 2020, DOI: 10.1080/09692290.2020.1727548. (pdf)
Innovating in Brazil: Advancing Development in the 21st Century. Edited with Elisabeth Reynolds and Ezequiel Zylberberg. London: Routledge, 2019. [Portuguese version Innovação no Brasil. São Paulo: GEN]. (link)
“Promoting Quality Education in Chile: The Politics of Reforming Teacher Careers.” (with Alejandra Mizala). Journal of Education Policy 14 (March 2019), pp. 1-27. (pdf)
“Technical Education in the Middle Income Trap: Missing Coalitions for Skill Formation.” (with Richard Doner). Journal of Development Studies, 2019. (pdf)
“The Politics of Quality Reforms and the Challenges for SDGs in Education.” (with Barbara Bruns and Isabel Harbaugh). World Development vol. 118 (June 2019) pp. 27-38. (pdf)
“The Politics of Transforming Education in Ecuador: Confrontation and Continuity, 2006-17.” (with Pablo Cevallos Estarellas and Barbara Bruns). Comparative Education Review vol. 63, no. 2, 2019. (pdf)
“Easy and Hard Redistribution: The Political Economy of Welfare States in Latin America.” (with Alisha Holland). Perspectives on Politics15(4) (December 2017), pp. 988-1006. (pdf)
"The Middle Income Trap: More Politics than Economics.” With Richard Doner. World Politics, 68, no. 4, October 2016. (pdf)
Designing Industrial Policy in Latin America: Business-Government Relations and the New Developmentalism. Palgrave, 2015. (link)
Teaching
Teaching
17.178 Institutions and Development (Syllabus)
17.588 Field Seminar in Comparative Politics (Syllabus)
17.S919 Politics, Inequality, and Education (Syllabus)
News
Biography
Ben Ross Schneider is the Ford International Professor of Political Science and director of the MIT Chile program. Prior to joining the department in 2008, Schneider taught at Princeton University and Northwestern University.
Professor Schneider's teaching and research interests fall within the general fields of comparative politics, political economy, and Latin American politics. His books include Reinventing Leviathan: The Politics of Administrative Reform in Developing Countries (2003), Business Politics and the State in 20th Century Latin America (2004), Hierarchical Capitalism in Latin America: Business, Labor, and the Challenges of Equitable Development (Cambridge University Press, 2013), Designing Industrial Policy in Latin America: Business-Government Relations and the New Developmentalism (2015), and New Order and Progress: Democracy and Development in Brazil (Oxford University Press, 2016). He also has published on topics such as democratization, technocracy, education politics, the developmental state, business groups, industrial policy, and comparative bureaucracy.
Research
Schneider's current research projects include a broader comparative analysis of the politics of education reform in middle income countries with a special theoretical focus on the roles of teacher unions and business. Other projects focus on business politics, innovation policies, and inequality in Latin America.
Schneider's research has been supported by the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study, the Fulbright Program, the Social Science Research Council, the Searle Foundation, the Kellogg Institute, the Heinz Foundation, the Tinker Foundation, and the Inter-American Foundation. Schneider also has a strong interest in contemporary policy debates and has consulted for the Ford Foundation, the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank, the Global Development Network, the United Nations Research Institute for Social Research (UNRISD), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the governments of Brazil and the United States. He has also been active in promoting a new research network, Red de Economía Política de América Latina, Repal.
Recent Publications
Routes to Reform: Education Politics in Latin America. Oxford University Press. 2024. (Open Access pdf).
“Business and Development: How Organization, Ownership, and Networks Matter.” (with Ignacio Puente). Review of International Political Economy, February 2020, DOI: 10.1080/09692290.2020.1727548. (pdf)
Innovating in Brazil: Advancing Development in the 21st Century. Edited with Elisabeth Reynolds and Ezequiel Zylberberg. London: Routledge, 2019. [Portuguese version Innovação no Brasil. São Paulo: GEN]. (link)
“Promoting Quality Education in Chile: The Politics of Reforming Teacher Careers.” (with Alejandra Mizala). Journal of Education Policy 14 (March 2019), pp. 1-27. (pdf)
“Technical Education in the Middle Income Trap: Missing Coalitions for Skill Formation.” (with Richard Doner). Journal of Development Studies, 2019. (pdf)
“The Politics of Quality Reforms and the Challenges for SDGs in Education.” (with Barbara Bruns and Isabel Harbaugh). World Development vol. 118 (June 2019) pp. 27-38. (pdf)
“The Politics of Transforming Education in Ecuador: Confrontation and Continuity, 2006-17.” (with Pablo Cevallos Estarellas and Barbara Bruns). Comparative Education Review vol. 63, no. 2, 2019. (pdf)
“Easy and Hard Redistribution: The Political Economy of Welfare States in Latin America.” (with Alisha Holland). Perspectives on Politics15(4) (December 2017), pp. 988-1006. (pdf)
"The Middle Income Trap: More Politics than Economics.” With Richard Doner. World Politics, 68, no. 4, October 2016. (pdf)
Designing Industrial Policy in Latin America: Business-Government Relations and the New Developmentalism. Palgrave, 2015. (link)
Teaching
Teaching
17.178 Institutions and Development (Syllabus)
17.588 Field Seminar in Comparative Politics (Syllabus)
17.S919 Politics, Inequality, and Education (Syllabus)