This book examines the effect of social inequality, political influence and institutional design on the effectiveness of Latin American legal systems.

1. Effectiveness and inequality in the legal system; 2. Charting injustice in Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay; 3. Informational and normative shifts across jurisdictions; 4. Buenos Aires - political interference and informational dependence; 5. Sao Paolo - normative autonomy and informational failures; 6. Uruguay - strong results from a weak system; 7. Cordoba - high levels of inequality in a strong system; 8. Salvador da Bahia - social cleansing under political and judicial indifference; 9. Binding leviathan.