Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-04T23:47:23.707Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Sequential Theory of Decentralization: Latin American Cases in Comparative Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2005

TULIA G. FALLETI
TULIA G. FALLETI
Affiliation:
University of Pennsylvania
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Both advocates and critics of decentralization assume that decentralization invariably increases the power of subnational governments. However, a closer examination of the consequences of decentralization across countries reveals that the magnitude of such change can range from substantial to insignificant. In this article, I propose a sequential theory of decentralization that has three main characteristics: (1) it defines decentralization as a process, (2) it takes into account the territorial interests of bargaining actors, and (3) it incorporates policy feedback effects. I argue that the sequencing of different types of decentralization (fiscal, administrative, and political) is a key determinant of the evolution of intergovernmental balance of power. I measure this evolution in the four largest Latin American countries and apply the theory to the two extreme cases (Colombia and Argentina). I show that, contrary to commonly held opinion, decentralization does not necessarily increase the power of governors and mayors.

Type
ARTICLES
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 99 , Issue 3 , August 2005 , pp. 327 - 346
Copyright
© 2005 by the American Political Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Angell Alan, Pamela Lowden, and Rosemary Thorp. 2001. Decentralizing Development. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
Ansaldi Waldo. 1992. “Frivolous and Empty-headed, Iron Hand in Silky Glove. A Proposal to Conceptualize the Term Oligarchy in Latin America” [in Spanish]. In América Latina: Planteos, Problemas, Preguntas, ed. P. Funes. Buenos Aires: Manuel Suárez, 13– 20.
Artana Daniel, et al. 1995. “Argentina.” In Fiscal Decentralization in Latin America, ed. R. López Murphy. Washington, DC: Inter-American Development Bank, 59– 136.
Block Fred. 1994. “The Roles of the State in the Economy.” In Handbook of Economic Sociology, ed. N. Smelser and R. Swedberg. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 691– 710.
Botana Natalio, and Ana María Mustapic. 1991. “Constitutional Reform and Political Regime in Argentina” [in Spanish]. In Reforma institucional y cambio político, ed. D. Nohlen and L. De Riz. Buenos Aires: CEDES, Legasa, 45– 92.
Burki Shahid J., Guillermo E. Perry, and William R. Dillinger. 1999. Beyond the Center: Decentralizing the State. Washington, DC: The World Bank.
Camdessus Michel. 1999. “Second Generation Reforms: Reflections and New Challenges.” Presented at IMF Conference on Second Generation Reforms, November 8, at Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Cheema Shabbir G., and Dennis A. Rondinelli, eds. 1983. Decentralization and development: policy implementation in developing countries. Beverly Hills: Sage.
Collier Ruth Berins, and David Collier. 1991. Shaping the Political Arena. Critical Junctures, the Labor Movement, and Regime Dynamics in Latin America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Collins Charles David. 1988. “Local government and Urban protest in Colombia.” Public Administration and Development 8 (4): 421– 36.Google Scholar
Consejo para la Consolidación de la Democracia. 1986. Constitutional Reform: Preliminary Report of the Council for Democratic Consolidation [in Spanish]. Buenos Aires: EUDEBA.
Cornelius Wayne A., Todd A. Eisenstadt, and Jane Hindley, eds. 1999. Subnational Politics and Democratization in Mexico. La Jolla, CA: Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, UCSD.
Corrales Javier. 2004. “Multiple Preferences, Variable Strengths: The Politics of Education Reform in Argentina.” In Crucial Needs, Weak Incentives: Social Sector Reform, Democratization, and Globalization in Latin America, ed. J. Nelson and R. Kaufman. Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD: Woodrow Wilson Center Press and Johns Hopkins University Press, 315– 49.
Correa Henao Néstor Raúl. 1994. “Decentralization and Public Order” [in Spanish]. In Diez años de descentralización. Resultados y Perspectivas, ed. A. Noyes et al. Bogotá: FESCOL, 9– 61.
Dahl Robert. 1986. “Federalism and the Democratic Processs.” In Democracy, Liberty, and Equality. Oslo, Denmark: Norwegian University Press, 114– 26.
Di Gropello Emanuela, and Rossella Cominetti, eds. 1998. Decentralization of Education and Health: A Comparative Analysis of Latin American Experiences [in Spanish]. Santiago de Chile: UN-ECLAC.
Diamond Larry, and Svetlana Tsalik. 1999. “Size and Democracy. The Case for Decentralization.” In Developing Democracy. Toward Consolidation, ed. L. Diamond. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 117– 60.
Dillinger William R., and Steven Webb. 1999. “Decentralization and Fiscal Management in Colombia.” Washington, DC: World Bank.
DNP and PNUD. 1998. Human Development Report for Colombia [in Spanish]. Santafé de Bogotá: Departamento Nacional de Planeación, Misión Social y PNUD.
Eaton Kent. 2001. “Decentralisation, Democratisation and Liberalisation: The History of Revenue Sharing in Argentina, 1934–1999.” Journal of Latin American Studies 33 (1): 1– 28.Google Scholar
Eaton Kent. 2002. “Fiscal Policy Making in the Argentine Legislature.” In Legislative Politics in Latin America, ed. S. Morgenstern and B. Nacif. Cambridge, UK, New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 287– 314.
Eaton Kent. 2004. Politics Beyond the Capital: The Design of Subnational Institutions in South America. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Eaton Kent, and J. Tyler Dickovick. 2004. “The Politics of Re-centralization in Argentina and Brazil.” Latin American Research Review 39 (1): 90– 122.Google Scholar
Escobar-Lemmon Maria. 2001. “Fiscal Decentralization and Federalism in Latin America.” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 31 (4): 23– 41.Google Scholar
Escobar-Lemmon Maria. 2003. “Political Support for Decentralization: An Analysis of the Colombian and Venezuelan Legislatures.” American Journal of Political Science 47 (4): 683– 97.Google Scholar
FCM. 2004. Mandate of the Federation of Colombian Municipalities 1991 [in Spanish. Cited 11/8 2004]. Available at http://www.fcm.org.co/es/load.php/uid=0/leng=es/0/Misionvision.htm.
Falleti Tulia G. 2003. “Governing Governors: Coalitions and Sequences of Decentralization in Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico.” Ph.D. diss. Northwestern University.
FIEL, Fundación de Investigaciones Económicas Latinoamericanas. 1993. Toward a New Organization of Fiscal Federalism in Argentina [in Spanish]. Buenos Aires: FIEL.
Gaitán Pavía Pilar, and Carlos Moreno Ospina. 1992. Local Power. The Reality and Utopia of Decentralization in Colombia [in Spanish]. Bogotá: Tercer Mundo Editores—Instituto de Estudios Políticos y Relaciones Internacionales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia.
Garman Christopher, Stephan Haggard, and Eliza Willis. 2001. “Fiscal Decentralization. A Political Theory with Latin American Cases.” World Politics 53 (January): 205– 36.Google Scholar
Gibson Edward L., ed. 2004. Federalism and Democracy in Latin America. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Gibson Edward L., and Ernesto Calvo. 2000. “Federalism and low-maintenance constituencies: Territorial dimensions of economic reform in Argentina.” Studies in Comparative International Development 35 (3): 32– 55.Google Scholar
Gibson Edward L., and Tulia Falleti. 2004. “Unity by the Stick: Regional Conflict and the Origins of Argentine Federalism.” In Federalism and Democracy in Latin America, ed. E. Gibson. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 226– 54.
González Fernán E. 1990. “The End of the DESARROLLISTA State: State and Capital Accumulation in Colombia, 1958–84.” In The State and Capital Accumulation in Latin America. Volume 2, eds. C. Anglade and C. Fortin. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 54– 87.
Grindle Merilee. 2000. Audacious Reforms: Institutional Invention and Democracy in Latin America. Baltimore and London: The John Hopkins University Press.
Haggard Stephan. 1998. “The Reform of the State in Latin America” [in Spanish]. Reforma y Democracia 11: 189– 230.Google Scholar
Hirbour Catherine. 2003. “Sequences of Reform and the Dynamic Decentralization Process in Peru.” Masters thesis. University of British Columbia.
Huber Evelyne, and John D. Stephens. 2001. Development and Crisis of the Welfare State. Parties and Policies in Global Markets. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.
IMF, International Monetary Fund. Various Years. Government Finance Statistics Yearbook. Washington, DC: IMF.
INDEC. 1997. Statistics Yearbook. 1997 [in Spanish]. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas y Censo, Ministerio de Economía y Obras y Servicios Públicos.
INEGI. 1995. Statistics Yearbook of the United States of Mexico [in Spanish]. Mexico: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática.
Jones Mark, et al. 2002. “Amateur Legislators-Professional Politicians: The Consequences of Party-Centered Electoral Rules in a Federal System.” American Journal of Political Science 46 (3): 656– 69.Google Scholar
Kisilevsky Marta. 1990. Nation and Provinces since the 1978 Transfer of Educational Services [in Spanish]. Buenos Aires: Consejo Federal de Inversiones.
Kisilevsky Marta. 1998. “Federalism and Education: a historical space for distributive conflicts” [in Spanish]. Masters thesis. Facultad Latinamericana de Ciencias Sociales.
Leiva Alberto David, and Ezequiel Abásalo. 2000. Argentine Constitutionalism in the Twentieth Century [in Spanish]. Buenos Aires: Ed. Dunken.
Lujambio Alonso. 2000. Shared Power. An Essay on Mexico's Democratization [in Spanish]. Mexico: Editorial Oceano de Mexico.
Mahoney James. 2000. “Path dependence in historical sociology.” Theory and Society 29 (4): 507– 48.Google Scholar
Maldonado Alberto. 2000. The Effects of Political Decentralization in Colombia [in Spanish]. Bogotá: Departamento de Investigaciones Fundación Universidad Central.
Manor James. 1999. The Political Economy of Democratic Decentralization. Washington, DC: The World Bank.
Ministerio de Cultura y Educación. 1980. Evaluation of the Transfer [in Spanish]. Buenos Aires: Secretaría de Estado de Educación, Dirección Nacional de Investigación, Experimentación y Perfeccionamiento Educativo.
Ministerio de Economía. 1989. Politics for Structural Change in the Public Sector. Speeches on National Budget Proposals 1986–1989 [in Spanish]. Buenos Aires: Poder Ejecutivo Nacional, Ministerio de Economía, Secretaria de Hacienda.
Misión de Finanzas Intergubernamentales. 1981. Intergovernmental Finances in Colombia [in Spanish]. Bogotá: DNP, Departamento Nacional de Planeación.
Montero Alfred P. 2001. “After Decentralization: Patterns of Intergovernmental Conflict in Argentina, Brazil, Spain, and Mexico.” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 31 (4): 43– 64.Google Scholar
Montero Alfred P., and David J. Samuels. 2004. “The Political Determinants of Decentralization in Latin America. Causes and Consequences.” In Decentralization and Democracy in Latin America, ed. A. P. Montero and D. J. Samuels. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 3– 32.
Nickson R. Andrew. 1995. Local Government in Latin America. Boulder and London: Lynne Rienner.
Novick de Senén González Silvia. 1995. “Argentina.” In Decentralization and Planning of Education: Recent Experiences in Five Latin American Countries, ed. C. N. Maplica Faustor. Paris: UNESCO: International Institute for Educational Planning, 121– 168.
Oates Wallace. 1972. Fiscal Federalism. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Ocampo Gaviria, José Antonio, and Guillermo Perry Rubio. 1983. “The Fiscal Reform, 1982–1983” [in Spanish]. Coyuntura Económica: 215– 64.Google Scholar
O'Neill Kathleen. 1999. “Decentralization in the Andes: Power to the People or Party Politics?” Ph.D. diss. Government, Harvard University.
O'Neill Kathleen. 2003. “Decentralization as an Electoral Strategy.” Comparative Political Studies 36 (9): 1068– 91.Google Scholar
Penfold-Becerra Michael. 1999. “Institutional Electoral Incentives and Decentralization Outcomes: Comparing Colombia and Venezuela.” Ph.D. diss. Political Science, Columbia University.
Pierson Paul. 1992. “Policy Feedbacks and Political Change: Contrasting Reagan and Thatcher's Pension-Reform Initiatives.” Studies in American Political Development 6 (Fall): 359– 90.Google Scholar
Pierson Paul. 2000. “Increasing Returns, Path Dependence, and the Study of Politics.” American Political Science Review 94 (2): 251– 67.Google Scholar
Pierson Paul. 2004. Politics in Time. History, Institutions, and Social Analysis. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press.
Pírez Pedro. 1986. Federal Coparticipation and Decentralization of the State [in Spanish]. Buenos Aires: Centro Editor de América Latina.
Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil. Various Years. Electoral Statistics [in Spanish]. Bogotá, Colombia.
Riker William H. 1964. Federalism. Origin, Operation, Significance. 3rd ed, Boston and Toronto: Little, Brown and Co.
Rodden Jonathan. 2002. “The Dilemma of Fiscal Federalism: Grants and Fiscal Performance around the World.” American Journal of Political Science 46 (3): 670– 87.Google Scholar
Samuels David. 2003. Ambition, Federalism, and Legislative Politics in Brazil. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Samuels David J. 2004. “The Political Logic of Decentralization in Brazil.” In Decentralization and Democracy in Latin America, ed. A. P. Montero and D. J. Samuels. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 67– 93.
Samuels David, and Scott Mainwaring. 2004. “Strong Federalism, Constraints on the Central Government, and Economic Reform in Brazil.” In Federalism and Democracy in Latin America, ed. E. Gibson. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 85– 130.
Schleifer James. 1980. The making of Tocqueville's “Democracy in America.” Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press.
Schneider Ben Ross. 1999. “The Desarrollista State in Brazil and Mexico.” In The Developmental State, ed. M. Woo-Cumings. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 276– 305.
Skowronek Stephen. 1993. The Politics Presidents Make. Leadership from John Adams to George Bush. Cambridge, MA and London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Smulovitz Catalina. 1987. “Constitutional Reform and Democratic Consolidation in Argentina. A new game or back to the instability of rules?” [in Spanish]. Cuadernos del CLAEH 43 (2da serie, Año 12): 69– 76.Google Scholar
Snyder Richard. 2001. “Scaling Down: The Subnational Comparative Method.” Studies in Comparative International Development 36 (1): 93– 110.Google Scholar
Stepan Alfred. 2000. “Brazil's Decentralized Federalism: Bringing Government Closer to the Citizens?” Daedalus 129 (2): 145– 69.Google Scholar
Stepan Alfred. 2004. “Toward a New Comparative Politics of Federalism, Multinationalism and Democracy: Beyond Rikerian Federalism.” In Federalism and Democracy in Latin America, ed. E. L. Gibson. Baltimore and London: The John Hopkins University Press, 29– 84.
Stinchcombe Arthur L. 1968. Constructing Social Theories. New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc.
Subsecretaría de Relaciones Fiscales y Económicas con las Provincias. 1994. Structural Changes in the relation between Nation and Provinces [in Spanish]. Buenos Aires: Secretaría de Hacienda. Ministerio de Economía y Obras y Servicios Públicos.
Tarrow Sidney. 1978. “Introduction.” In Territorial Politics in Industrial Nations, eds. S. Tarrow, P. J. Katzenstein and L. Graziano. New York and London: Praeger Publishers, 1– 27.
Tavares de Almeida Maria Hermínia. 1995. Federalism and Social Policies [in Spanish]. Santiago de Chile: Naciones Unidas. CEPAL.
Thelen Kathleen. 2000. “Timing and Temporality in the Analysis of Institutional Evolution and Change.” Studies in American Political Development 14 (Spring): 101– 8.Google Scholar
Thelen Kathleen. 2003. “How Institutions Evolve: Insights from Comparative-Historical Analysis.” In Comparative Historical Analysis in the Social Sciences, ed. J. Mahoney and D. Rueschemeyer. New York: Cambridge University Press, 208– 40.
Tilly Charles. 1984. Big Structures, Large Processes, Huge Comparisons. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Treisman Daniel. 1999. After the Deluge: Regional Crises and Political Consolidation in Russia. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
Treisman Daniel. 2000. “Decentralization and Inflation: Commitment, Collective Action, or Continuity?” American Political Science Review 94 (4): 837– 57.Google Scholar
Vargas González Jorge Enrique, and Alfredo Sarmiento Gómez. 1997. Characteristics of Colombia's Decentralization [in Spanish]. Santiago de Chile: Naciones Unidas. Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe.
Velásquez Fabio. 1995. “Decentralization in Colombia: antecedents, developments, and perspectives” [in Spanish]. In Descentralizar en América Latina? Gestión Urbana, Vol. 3, ed. J. Werner Hass and A. Rosenfeld. Quito, Ecuador: GTZ/PGU—Sociedad Alemana de Cooperación Técnica/Programa de Gestión Urbana, 237– 310.
Weyland Kurt. 2002. The Politics of Market Reforms in Fragile Democracies. Argentina, Brazil, Peru, and Venezuela. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press.
Wibbels Erik. 2000. “Federalism and the Politics of Macroeconomic Policy and Performance.” American Journal of Political Science 44 (4): 687– 702.Google Scholar
Wibbels Erik. 2004. “Decentralization, Democracy, and Market Reform. On the Difficulties of Killing Two Birds with One Stone.” In Decentralization and Democracy in Latin America, ed. A. P. Montero and D. J. Samuels. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 203– 34.
Wiesner Durán Eduardo. 1992. Colombia: Decentralization and Fiscal Federalism. Final Report of the Decentralization Team [in Spanish]. Bogotá: Departamento Nacional de Planeación.
Willis Eliza, Christopher Garman, and Stephan Haggard. 1999. “The politics of decentralization in Latin America.” Latin American Research Review 34 (1): 7– 56.Google Scholar
Wright Deil S. 1978. Understanding Intergovernmental Relations. North Scituate, MA: Duxbury Press.
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.