Decentralization and Democracy in Latin America / Edition 1

by Alfred P. Montero

Overview

The nine essays in this collection represent the first book-length treatment of one of the major changes that have shaped Latin America since independence: decentralization of the state. Contributors argue that though the assignment of political, fiscal, and administrative duties to subnational governments has been one of the most important political developments in Latin America, it is also one of the most overlooked. This volume is divided into three sections. Part one presents an overview of the topic by the editors; part two considers the political origins of decentralization; and part three examines decentralization and economic reforms.

Decentralization and Democracy in Latin America explores the causes of decentralization in six significant case studies: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Venezuela. Shorter analyses of Uruguay and Peru are also included. The essays in this volume find substantial common ground across regime types, historical periods, and countries, and yield several substantive conclusions. First, historical-institutional and socioeconomic legacies matter. Second, democratization and neoliberal reform are neither necessary nor sufficient to explain decentralization. Finally, institutional and electoralist approaches, supplemented with analysis of macro and distal factors, offer the most promising avenues for further research.

This book will be important for all students and scholars of Latin America and comparative politics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780268025595
Publisher:	University of Notre Dame Press
Publication date:	03/15/2004
Series:	Kellogg Institute Series on Democracy and Development
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.76(d)

About the Author

Alfred P. Montero is associate professor of political science at Carleton College.

David J. Samuels is associate professor of political science at the University of Minnesota.

Contributors: Alfred P. Montero, David J. Samuels, Kathleen M. O’Neill, Gary Bland, Kent Eaton, Michael Penfold-Becerra, Caroline C. Beer, Erik Wibbels, Stephan Haggard, and Steven B. Webb.

Table of Contents

	List of Tables and Figures	vii
	Acknowledgments	ix
Part I	Introduction
Chapter 1	The Political Determinants of Decentralization in Latin America: Causes and Consequences	3
Part II	The Political Origins of Decentralization
Chapter 2	Decentralization in Bolivia: Electoral Incentives and Outcomes	35
Chapter 3	The Political Logic of Decentralization in Brazil	67
Chapter 4	Enclaves and Elections: The Decision to Decentralize in Chile	94
Chapter 5	The Link between Political and Fiscal Decentralization in South America	122
Chapter 6	Electoral Dynamics and Decentralization in Venezuela	155
Chapter 7	Electoral Competition and Fiscal Decentralization in Mexico	180
Part III	Consequences for Economic Reform
Chapter 8	Decentralization, Democracy, and Market Reform: On the Difficulties of Killing Two Birds with One Stone	203
Chapter 9	Political Incentives and Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations: Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico Compared	235
	References	271
	Contributors	297
	Index	301

Editorial Reviews

"The book... adopts a predominantly political focus in its analysis of decentralization. The concentration is on process rather than outcome—and what outcomes are discussed are those at the level of intergovernmental relations, rather than the results on the ground. This approach has the virtue of concentrating the analytical focus, and the editors have done a splendid job in ensuring that the various contributors not only focus on the same issues and adopt broadly but not entirely the same approach, but even engage in a certain level of interchange—occasionally a mild disagreement—between the chapters. The book also has a strong sense of history—something often lacking among the more committed advocates of decentralization." —Perspectives on Politics

“The authors of Decentralization and Democracy in Latin America are primarily concerned with understanding the dynamics of state reform and decentralization in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Uruguay, and Venezuela." —Latin American Research Review

"Montero, Samuels, and the contributors are to be congratulated for producing a volume that is coherent, integrated, and timely. Graduate students and professionals will not only find it useful empirically and analytically but also will consider it a mine for endless propositions and hypotheses for testing and investigating. Overall, Decentralization and Democracy in Latin America is a valuable and solid volume." —Perspectives on Political Science

"This edited volume brings together some of the finest works on decentralization in Latin America produced in the U.S. in recent years. The book is sound, both theoretically and empirically, and the different chapters nicely complement each other. ...this book is likely to become part of the reading lists of Latin American politics seminars." —The Americas

"This book deals with an interesting topic, but at the same time offers the reader an excellent starting point for understanding the phenomenon in its contextual and comparative dimension without losing the particular development of each individual country. It is without doubt a well-written book." —Political Studies Review

From the Publisher

States and municipalities are gaining strength in Latin America, eroding the region's deep-seated centralism. To ponder the causes of this decentralization, accomplished scholars Stephan Haggard and Steven Webb are joined by a number of promising younger analysts in this edited collection. They collectively judge that partisan political ambitions, not lofty principles of efficiency or accountability, are often the main motivation for devolving political power: where leaders see opportunities to strengthen their parties or win local election, they change the rules to transfer power to local authorities—their cronies. And although decentralization can improve the quality of democracy, local elites are often just as corrupt as national leaders. Moreover, the transfer of authority too frequently occurs without adequate financial support, making local officials look incompetent. The authors also warn that decentralization is neither unprecedented nor inevitable—nor, as Hugo Chávez is demonstrating in Venezuela, is it irreversible.

Foreign Affairs

Rapid and widespread death decimated the descendants of the Inca Empire, but the mere number of the dead does not tell the story. Rather, Ramos brilliantly demonstrates that, beginning with the execution of Atahualpa, death and the dead were one of the great colonial sites of ongoing contestation about both the here and now and the hereafter. In an exquisitely researched study, Ramos traces the shift from pre-Columbian to colonial Andean funerary rituals and the differing ways that they became the center of how ‘Andeans and Europeans communicated and exchanged their visions of power and the sacred,’ in a true dance of death.

Thomas B. F. Cummins

"This edited volume brings together some of the finest works on decentralization in Latin America produced in the U.S. in recent years. The book is sound, both theoretically and empirically, and the different chapters nicely complement each other . . . This book is likely to become part of the reading lists of Latin American politics seminars."—The Americas, vol. 62 no. 1, July 2005

The Americas

"Montero, Samuels, and the contributors are to be congratulated for producing a volume that is coherent, integrated, and timely. Graduate students and professionals will not only find it useful empirically and analytically but also will consider it a mine for endless propositions and hypotheses for testing and investigating. Overall, Decentralization and Democracy in Latin America is a valuable and solid volume."

Perspectives on Political Science