I examine how domestic workers have fared legally and politically in post-transition democracies in Latin America. Paid domestic work employs more than 15 percent of the economically active female population in Latin America, yet national labor codes tend to mandate lower salaries and benefits and longer working hours to those working in this sector. They also suffer from race, gender, and class discrimination. Although organizations advocating for domestic workers have demanded equal rights, political actors in the region have been extremely reticent to respond to these demands. By analyzing domestic workers' legal rights across the region and process-tracing political reforms in Chile and Bolivia, I find that although elite resistance to change is a constant, under the right circumstances, domestic workers can gain legal reforms. Domestic workers' social allies are labor, feminist, and indigenous organizations; however, to get the attention of these allies, and consequently to pressure politicians, they must first organize autonomously and publicize their cause. Although leftist parties are more likely to be receptive to their cause, they need pressure to act on behalf of the needs of such a marginalized group. Once they do, however, they need not be majority parties to get the issue on the agenda. The key political battle is getting and keeping the issue of domestic workers' rights on the political agenda; once it goes to a vote, it is unlikely to be rejected.

This essay reviews the following works:

¿Quienes deciden la política social? Economía política de programas sociales en América Latina. Edited by Alejandro Bonvecchi, Julia Johannsen, and Carlos Scartascini. Washington, DC: Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, 2015. Pp. xx + 200. Digital open access. ISBN: 9781597822190.

Crafting Policies to End Poverty in Latin America: The Quiet Transformation. By Ana Lorena De La O. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2015. Pp. ix + 175. $84.99 hardcover. ISBN: 9781107089488.

Sistemas políticos y bienestar social: Estudios comparados: Brasil, Colombia y Venezuela (2000–2010). By Augusto De Venanzi. Almagro: Editorial Biblioteca Nueva, 2015. Pp. 238. $22.99 paperback. ISBN: 9788416345144.

The Political Logic of Poverty Relief: Electoral Strategies and Social Policy in Mexico. By Alberto Díaz-Cayeros, Federico Estévez, and Beatriz Magaloni. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2016. Pp. xvi + 236. $99.99 hardcover. ISBN: 9781107140288.

Social Policy Expansion in Latin America. By Candelaria Garay. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2016. Pp. xvii + 256. $34.99 paperback. ISBN: 9781316606407.

Forbearance as Redistribution: The Politics of Informal Welfare in Latin America. By Alisha C. Holland. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2017. Pp. 398. $35.99 paperback. ISBN: 9781316626351.

The Quest for Universal Social Policy in the South: Actors, Ideas, and Architectures. By Juliana Martínez Franzoni and Diego Sánchez-Ancochea. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2016. Pp. xvii + 256. $34.99 paperback. ISBN: 9781107564893.

This article evaluates 38 bills seeking to expand women's rights in Chile and finds that the successful ones often originated with the Executive National Women's Ministry (SERNAM), did not threaten existing definitions of gender roles, and did not require economic redistribution. These factors (plus the considerable influence of the Catholic Church) correlate in important ways, and tend to constrain political actors in ways not apparent from an examination of institutional roles or ideological identity alone. In particular, the Chilean left's strategic response to this complex web of interactions has enabled it to gain greater legislative influence on these issues over time.