Converging Divergence: the Diffusion of the Green State in Latin America

Global processes of policy diffusion result in different types of state development. A broad view of environmentalist reform in Latin America easily reads as top-down diffusion of blueprints and institutional convergence. But such a thesis is reductionist and ultimately misleading, case studies demonstrate. First, diffusion mechanisms matter for divergence: when normative and mimetic mechanisms are relatively strong vis-à-vis coercive forces, formal state change is followed by more meaningful real state change; when the coercive mechanism rules unmatched, green state change ends up being formal for the most part. Secondly, institutional entrepreneurs face shifting opportunity structures for political change; because these opportunities are never uniform, national experiences will differ. Thirdly, national institutional environments provide contrasting domestic resources and cultures for the building of green states; legacy, in short, will condition translation by entrepreneurs. A bridging institutionalist framework helps us make sense of “converging divergence”.     

The Presidentialist Tradition in Latin America

Abstract

The diffusion of presidentialism to Latin America has led to its distortion. The North American constitutional pattern, termed presidentialism under separation of powers and its most distinguishing feature, presidential leadership, while modeled in Latin America, has rarely led to democratic–constitutional government a la the United States. The institution of the presidency in Latin America is also typical for nondemocratic regimes in the region. One of the most widely accepted and widely professed facts in Latin American politics is the dominant role of the president but, curiously, most discussions of presidentialism are limited to the US and comparisons with Great Britain. Few studies of Latin American chief executives lend shape to the corpus of scholarly literature, despite the region's long experience and ejecutivismo. The gap, and this article, should be taken as a stimulus for more systematic explication, analysis, and research.     

The Cost of Discrimination in Latin America

Indigenous and linguistic minorities are in an inferior economic and social position. The ethnic concentration of inequality is increasingly being recognized in the literature. In this review, studies from six Latin American countries that estimate the costs to an individual of being an economic minority are reviewed. The studies decompose the overall earnings gap into two components. One is the portion attributable to differences in the endowments of income-generating characteristics (“explained” differences) and the other is attributable to differences in the returns that majority and minority workers receive for the same endowment of income-generating characteristics (“unexplained”). This latter component is often taken as reflecting the “upper bound” of wage discrimination. In two studies for Bolivia, one using a 1966 survey and the other a 1989 survey, decomposition of the differential between indigenous and nonindigenous earnings leads to the conclusion that most of the overall differential is due to productivity. In Guatemala, Mexico and Peru, only one-half of the earnings differential can be attributed to differences in productivity-enhancing characteristics. In Paraguay, decomposition of the overall earnings differential between monolingual Spanish speakers and Guaraní speakers shows that most of the differential is explained by human capital differences. In Brazil, however, there is a significant cost to “being non-white.” Harry Anthony Patrinos is a Senior Education Economist at the World Bank. He leads the Economics of Education Thematic Group and manages EdInvest (www.worldbank.org/edinvest), the Education Investment Information Facility. He is co-author ofDecentralization of Education: Demand-Side Financing (1997). His latest co-edited book isPolicy Analysis of Child Labor: A Comparative Study (St. Martin's Press, 1999).Indigenous People and Poverty in Latin America: An Empirical Analysis (edited with George Psacharopoulos), was one of the first studies of the socioeconomic situation of indigenous peoples in Latin America.     

The process of democratization in Latin America

During the 1980s, Latin America experienced the longest and deepest wave of democratization in its history. The origins of this process of transformation are to be found in the interaction between domestic and international forces. At the international level, the key events were the oil shocks of the 1970s, the related expansion of international lending, and the subsequent debt crisis. The speed and extent to which these changes were translated into democratization were conditioned by the political alignments of the private sector and structural fragilities of authoritarianism at the national level. The persistence of the democratization trend through time reflects the importance of other factors, including global political change, the receding threat of the revolutionary left, the internationalization of capital markets, constraints on domestic policy choice, and political learning, which have converged at the domestic level to reduce the incentives and opportunities for authoritarian reversals.     

Demilitarisation in Latin America

Since the mid 1970s relations between the USA and Libya have been antagonistic. The radical policies the regime of Muammar Qadaaffi has pursued have made Libya one of the USA's bêtes noires . The reasons for US antagonism derive from Libya's repression at home, its alleged support for terrorism and for radical movements opposed to US interests, its staunch opposition to Israel, and its anti-Western rhetoric. Libya's hostility towards the USA rests on a perception of the USA as a global power intent on maintaining its hegemony and control over the Arab and Islamic world. Libyans have been resentful of US support of Israel to the detriment of Arabs and Muslims. Libya's resolute opposition to the USA especially in the 1980s, resulted in a series of military confrontations. The USA has maintained sanctions despite the suspension of UN sanctions on Libya in 1999. The USA has retained Libya on its short list of 'rogue states' despite recognition that Libya has stopped sponsoring terrorism. The contention here is that Libya, like the other 'rogue states', provides justification for US domestic policies (eg National Missile Defense). Given the events of 11 September 2001 in the US, it is quite conceivable that Libya could become a target of the US antiterrorism campaign. The USA could at last find valid justification for the removal of the Qadaffi regime.     

The fiscal impact of privatisation in Latin America

The goal of achieving fiscal balance through privatisation is misplaced because the revenues generated are rarely large or timely enough to bring the budget deficit under control. In Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, and Chile fiscal crisis preceded and encouraged the decision to privatise, but only in Argentina did the revenues from privatisation contribute significantly to fiscal adjustment. The article develops a model, incorporating time preferences and longer term fiscal impacts, which shows that major fiscal benefits can be expected only under rare circumstances. Politicians continue to tout the fiscal benefits of privatisation perhaps to gain support or to signal their commitment to economic reform.     

The Politics of Economic Crisis in Latin America

Researchers widely recognize that economic crises have important political consequences, yet there is little systematic research on the political factors that make nations more or less susceptible to economic crisis. Scholars have long debated the economic consequences of party systems, executive powers, and societal interest groups, but their relationships to crisis proclivity are poorly understood. We assess the political correlates of economic crisis using a cross-sectional time-series analysis of 17 Latin American countries over nearly three decades. Crises are measured along two dimensions—depth and duration—and disaggregated into three types: inflationary, GDP, and fiscal crises. Statistical results suggest that political institutions have a modest, and often unexpected, correlation with crises. More important than institutional attributes are social organization and the nature of party-society linkages, particularly the existence of a densely-organized trade union movement and/or a powerful leftist party. Strong unions and powerful parties of the left are associated with more severe economic crises, though there is some evidence that the combination of left-labor strength can alleviate inflationary crises. The results demonstrate the need to disaggregate the concept of economic crisis and incorporate the societal dimension when studying the political economy of crisis and reform.     

The IMF,austerity and the state in Latin America

The Brazilian Economic Crisis

No to Recession and Unemployment: An Examination of the Brazilian Economic Crisis. Celso Furtado, London: Third World Foundation. 1984. 77pp. £2.95pb

Impact of Islam: domestic and foreign policies of Muslim states

Faith and Power: The Politics of Islam. Edward Mortimer, London: Faber and Faber. 1982. 432pp. £10.50pb

Islam in Foreign Policy. Edited by Adeed Dawisha, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1983. 191pp. £17.50

Central American Directions

Rift and Revolution: The Central American Imbroglio. Edited by Howard J Wiarda, Washington DC: American Enterprise Institute. 1984. 392pp. $10.95

Central America: Anatomy of Conflict. Edited by Robert S Leiken, Oxford: Pergamon. 1984. 351pp. £13.95.

Inevitable Revolutions: The United States in Central America. Walter LaFeber, London: W W Norton. 1983. 357pp. £14.95.

The Long War: Dictatorship and Revolution in El Salvador. James Dunkerley, London: Junction Books. 1982. 264pp. £12.50. £5.95pb.

International Organisations: Principles and Issues. A LeRoy Bennett, Hemel Hempstead, England: Prentice‐Hall International. 1984. 498pp. £26.75

Peacekeeping in Vietnam: Canada, India, Poland and the International Commission. Ramesh Thakur, Edmonton, Canada: University of Alberta Press. 1984. 375pp. $30.00

The World's Money: International Banking from Bretton Woods to the Brink of Insolvency. Michael Moffitt, London: Michael Joseph. 1984. 284pp. £9.95

Banking on Poverty: The Global Impact of the IMF and World Bank. Edited by Jill Torrie, Toronto, Canada: Between the Lines. 1983. 336pp. $22.95. $12.95pb

The Management of the World Economy. Evan Luard, London: Macmillan. 1983. 270pp. £25.00. £7.95pb

International Money and Capitalist Crisis: The Anatomy of Global Disintegration E A Brett London: Heinemann. 1983. 271pp. £13.50

Escape from Empire: The Attlee Government and the Indian Problem. R J Moore, Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1983. 376pp. £19.50

The Multinational Corporation. Sanjaya Lall, London: Macmillan Press. 1983. 264pp. £6.95pb

The New Multinationals: The Spread of Third World Enterprises. Sanjaya Lall, Chichester, England: John Wiley. 1983. 268pp. £13.50

Poverty and Aid. Edited by J R Parkinson, Oxford: Basil Blackwell. 1983. 264pp. £19.50

State of the World 1984. Lester R Brown et al, London: W W Norton. 1984. 252pp. $15.95

Development and the Environmental Crisis: Red or Green Alternatives? Michael Redclift, London: Methuen. 1984. 149pp. £9.50. £ 4.25pb

Deepsea Mining and the Law of the Sea. A M Post, The Hague, Boston and Lancaster: Martinus Nijhoff. 1983. 358pp. np

Climate and Development. Edited by Asit K Biswas, Dublin: Tycooly International. 1984. 146pp. £16.50. £5.95pb

The Political Economy of West African Agriculture. Keith Hart, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1982. 226pp. £19.00. £7.50pb

The Trouble with Nigeria. Chinua Achebe, London: Heinemann. 1984. 68pp. £1.95

The Struggle for Africa. Mai Palmberg, London: Zed Press. 1983. 286pp. £17.95. £5.95pb

State and Class in Africa. Edited by Nelson Kasfir, London: Frank Cass. 1984. 125pp. £18.50

Underdevelopment and Agrarian Structure in Pakistan. Mahmood Hasan Khan, Lahore, Pakistan: Vanguard. 1981. 335pp. Rs150.00

Pakistan: The Political Economy of Development. Karamat Ali, Lahore, Pakistan: Vanguard. nd. 381pp. Rs175.00

Rank and Rivalry: The Politics of Inequality in Rural West Bengal. Marvin Davis, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1983. 237pp. £20.00. £7.95pb

Rural Development and the State: Contradictions and Dilemmas in Developing Countries. Edited by David M Lea and D P Chaudhri, London: Methuen. 1983. 351pp. £9.95pb

The Hong Kong Crisis. Gregor Benton, London: Pluto Press. 1983. 114pp. £3.5pb

Revolutionary Islam in Iran: Popular Liberation or Religious Dictatorship? Surdosh Irfani, London: Zed Press. 1983. 267pp. £18.95. £6.95pb

The Foreign Policy Systems of North and South Korea. Byung Chul Koh, London: University of California Press. 1984. 274pp. £22.80

The Developing Economies and Japan: Lessons in Growth. Saburo Okita, London: University of Tokyo Press. 1983. 283pp. £14.00

Arab Oil Policies in the 1970s: Opportunity and Responsibility. Yusif A Sayigh, London: Croom Helm. 1983. 271pp. £11.95

Guyana: Fraudulent Revolution. Latin America Bureau, London: Latin American Bureau. 1984. 105pp. £2.95pb

Problems of Development in Beautiful Countries: Perspectives on the Caribbean. Ransford W Palmer, Lanham, Maryland: North South Publishing Co. 1984. 91pp. $12.50

The Grenada Intervention: Analysis and Documentation. William G Gilmore, London: Mansell. 1984. 116pp. £5.95pb

O Mercado da Segurança: Ensaios sobre economia politica da defesa. Clóvis Brigagão, Rio de Janeiro: Editora Nova Fronteira. 1984. 183pp. np

Argentina: The Malvinas and the End of Military Rule. Alejandro Dabat and Luis Lorenzano, London: Verso. 1984. 206pp. £20.00. £5.95pb

A Vision of Hope: The Churches and Change in Latin America. Trevor Beeson and Jenny Pearce, London: Fount. 1984. 290pp. £2.95pb

Oil and Politics in Latin America: Nationalist Movements and State Companies. George Philip, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1982. 577pp. £37.50