La política de la reforma administrativa : dilemas insolubles y soluciones improbables

Abstract

Most countries of Latin America stabilized and opened their economies in the first generation of market oriented reforms in the 1980s and early 1990s. Now they face a much more costly and protracted task of rebuilding state capacity to deliver social services, regulate the economy, avoid recurrent fiscal crises, and improve the overall functioning of government. Why have some countries (such as Brazil, Argentina, and Chile) progressed further on administrative reform, one of the most important of the second generation reforms, than other countries (like Mexico)?

Administrative reform usually starts with small groups of reformers within the executive branch. Among factors that facilitate reform are: balance of payments and fiscal crises (and political mobilization of support to resolve them), middle class and rural support, and the effective packaging of reform initiatives. Contrary to much of the literature, the nature of the party system (cohesion, discipline, and parity) does not explain much of the variation in reform experiences.