Enforcing the Rule of Law: Social Accountability in the New Latin American Democracies

377 Pages·2006·1.49 MB·English

by  Enrique Peruzzotti, Catalina Smulovitz

ENFORCING the RULE of LAW
PITT LATIN AMERICAN SERIES
George Reid Andrews,General Editor
Catherine M.Conaghan,Associate Editor
E N F O R C I N G
the R U L E of L AW
Social Accountability in the
New Latin American Democracies
Edited by Enrique Peruzzotti
and Catalina Smulovitz
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH PRESS
Published by the University ofPittsburgh Press,Pittsburgh PA 15260
Copyright © 2006,University ofPittsburgh Press
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States ofAmerica
Printed on acid-free paper
10987654321
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Enforcing the rule oflaw :social accountability in the new Latin American
democracies / edited by Enrique Peruzzotti and Catalina Smulovitz.
p.cm.— (Pitt Latin American series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8229-5896-1(pbk.:alk.paper)
1. Public administration—Latin America.2. Rule oflaw—Latin America.
3. Government liability—Latin America.4. Latin America—Politics and
government—1980- 5. Democratization—Latin America.6. Civil society—
Latin America.7. Political culture—Latin America. I.Peruzzotti,Enrique.
II.Smulovitz,Catalina.III.Series.
JL960.E542006
320.6098—dc22
2005028747
CONTENTS
List ofTables and Figures vii
Acknowledgments ix
List ofAbbreviations xi
Part One: Civil Society and the Control
ofPolitical Power
1 Social Accountability:An Introduction 3
Enrique Peruzzotti and Catalina Smulovitz
2 The Effectiveness ofLaw:Civil Society and the Public Prosecution
in Brazil 34
Rosangela Batista Calvancanti
3 Judicialization ofProtest in Argentina:The Case ofCorralito 55
Catalina Smulovitz
4 Multiple Activation as a Strategy ofCitizen Accountability and
the Role ofthe Investigating Legislative Commissions 75
Ana Tereza Lemos-Nelson and Jorge Zaverucha
5 Critical Junctures ofSocial Accountability:Lessons from
Latin America 115
Nuria Cunill Grau
6 Violent Police,Passive Citizens:The Failure ofSocial Accountability
in Chile 134
Claudio A.Fuentes
7 Social Accountability in Mexico:The Civic Alliance Experience 178
Alberto J.Olvera Rivera
8 Mobilization and Accountability:A Study ofSocial Control in
the “Cabezas”Case in Argentina 213
Jacqueline Behrend
v
Contents
Part Two: Watchdog Journalism and Social Accountability
9 Media Scandals and Social Accountability:Assessing the Role
ofthe Senate Scandal in Argentina 249
Enrique Peruzzotti
10 Reading Scandals:Scandals,Media,and Citizenship in
Contemporary Argentina 272
Silvio R.Waisbord
Part Three: Some Theoretical Issues
11 Accountability and Civil Society 307
Andrew Arato
12 Social Accountability in Latin America and Beyond 323
Adam Przeworski
13 Notes on Various Accountabilities and Their Interrelations 334
Guillermo O’Donnell
14 Concluding Remarks 344
Enrique Peruzzotti and Catalina Smulovitz
List ofContributors 355
Index 359
vi
TABLES AND FIGURES
Tables
1.1 Types ofAccountability 27
3.1 Number ofInjunctions and Amounts Paid (in %) 60
3.2 Total Number ofInjunctions and Amounts Paid in 2002 61
6.1 Human Rights Organizations in Chile:1990and 2000 140
6.2 The Work ofthe Vicariate ofSolidarity 141
6.3 Arrest on Suspicion in Chile:1990–99 146
6.4 Chile:Alleged Cases ofPolice Abuse 152
6.5 Human Rights Groups Influencing State Policies and Practices 152
6.6 Government Reactions to International Reports 158
12.1 Institutional and Political Indicators ofChiefExecutive
Accountability 326
12.2 Central Bank and Lower-Level Governmental Autonomy
Indicators ofChiefExecutive Accountability 327
Figures
3.1 Average Amount Returned per Injunction 62
6.1 Detentions in Chile:1990–98 147
6.2 Complaints ofPolice Violence Registered by CODEPU:1990–2000 149
6.3 Allegations ofPolice Violence filed in Courts:1990–2000 150
6.4 Links between Human Rights Groups and the State 166
7.1 The Structure ofCivic Alliance:1994–96 193
vii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Books have their own history,many parents,and sometimes enthusiastic mentors.
Here we want to acknowledge and thank ours for their support and suggestions.
An ambivalent diagnosis about the state ofthe Latin American democracies
motivated our initial questions.A political scenario in which institutional defi-
cits made the exercise ofaccountability difficult coexisted with social movements
and actors that demanded and monitored the lawfulness ofgovernmental actions.
Our concerns led to a conference and to a research project about the way in which
the accountability of political authorities is being exercised in the region. The
Tinker Foundation,and in particular Nancy Truitt,supported the conference,
which allowed us to gather the expertise of the contributors to this book.The
conference took place in Buenos Aires in May 2000,and as the chapters of this
book show,our discussions there were lively and enriching.We want to thank the
contributors for their insights and suggestions.
The Ford Foundation funded the research project that helped identify the
questions and cases discussed at the conference.Its continuing support has en-
abled us to complete this volume and to pursue further research on this subject.
In particular,we would like to thank Augusto Varas,who enthusiastically sup-
ported the project from its outset.At different stages ofour research,Guillermo
O’Donnell’s and Adam Przeworski’s comments and suggestions forced us to re-
view and refine our concepts and arguments.We would also like to thank Alberto
Fohrig,Osvaldo Iazzetta,Marcelo Leiras,Ana Maria Mustapic,and Hugo Quiroga
for their continuous support and their valuable contributions at different stages
ofthe project.Finally,we want to thank our colleagues at the Universidad Torcuato
Di Tella in Buenos Aires, in particular José María Ghio, Natalio Botana, and
Gerárdo Della Paolera,whose support greatly contributed to the success of this
work.
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