How Democracy Works: Political Institutions, Actors, and Arenas in Latin American Policymaking (Interamerican Development Bank)

351 Pages·2010·4.23 MB·English

by  Carlos Scartascini

GoVERNMENT AND PUBLIC INSTITUTIoNS How
DEMOCRACY
over the past 30 years, democratic freedoms and competitive electoral
processes have taken hold as never before in Latin America. How Democracy
Works takes a detailed look, from an institutional perspective, at each of
woRKS
the main actors on the policymaking stage in Latin America, emphasizing Political Institutions, Actors,
the extent to which institutions facilitate or hinder intertemporal political and Arenas in Latin American
cooperation and compromise. It analyzes official political actors and arenas, Policymaking
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as well as a number of societal actors, and explores the (formal) roles of
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these players, their incentives, capabilities, and the way in which they
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actually engage in the policymaking game. The conclusion: these political

institutions and actors matter for policymaking in Latin America and leave D
an indelible imprint on the policy process and the resulting policies. E
M
* * * o
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“Scartascini, Stein, and Tommasi have assembled an all-star team of scholars,
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and the result is the most comprehensive evaluation to date of political
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institutions and political economy in Latin America.”
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John Carey, John wentworth Professor in the Social Sciences, Department of y

Government, Dartmouth College w
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“How Democracy Works provides a road map to understand the role of various
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policymaking actors in Latin America and the impact of their interaction on
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the quality of public policy. It is a must read for any social scientist interested
S
in policymaking in Latin America.”
Pablo Spiller, Jeffrey A. Jacobs Distinguished Professor of Business and
Technology, University of California, Berkeley
978-1-59782-109-4 SCarlos Scartascini
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Ernesto Stein
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FSC logo DIMariano Tommasi
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David Rockefeller Center
for Latin American Studies
Inter-American Development Bank
Harvard University
Distributed by DRCLAS
Harvard University Press HARVARD
Cover How Democracy Works final 7-16-10.indd 1 7/16/10 11:51 AM

How DEMOCRACY woRKS
Political Institutions,
Actors, and Arenas in
Latin American Policymaking
Carlos Scartascini
Ernesto Stein
Mariano Tommasi
Editors
Inter-American Development Bank
David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies
Harvard University
©Inter-American Development Bank, 2010. All rights reserved. No part of this
book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by information storage
or retrieval system, without permission from the IDB.
Co-published by
David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies
Harvard University
1730 Cambridge Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Produced by the IDB Office of External Relations
The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors
and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Inter-American
Development Bank.
Cataloging-in-Publication data provided by the
Inter-American Development Bank
Felipe Herrera Library
How democracy works : political institutions, actors, and arenas in Latin Ameri-
can policymaking / Carlos Scartascini, Ernesto Stein, Mariano Tommasi, editors.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN: 978-1-59782-109-4
1. Latin America—Politics and government. 2. Policy Sciences—Latin America.
3. Political planning—Latin America. 4. Politics, Practical—Latin America.
5. Public Administration—Latin America. 6. Political science—Latin America.
I. Scartascini, Carlos G., 1971-. II. Stein, Ernesto. III. Tommasi, Mariano, 1964-.
IV. Inter-American Development Bank.
JL959.5.P64 H69 2010
320.98 H830—dc22 LCCN: 2010928756
To order this book, contact:
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1350 New York Ave., N.W.
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Contents
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Chapter 1
Political Institutions, Actors, and Arenas in Latin American
Policymaking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Carlos Scartascini, Ernesto Stein, and Mariano Tommasi
CHAPter 2
Beyond the Electoral Connection: The Effect of
Political Parties on the Policymaking Process . . . . . . . . 19
Mark P. Jones
CHAPter 3
Active Players or Rubber Stamps? An Evaluation of
the Policymaking Role of Latin American Legislatures . . . . 47
Sebastian M. Saiegh
CHAPter 4
How Courts Engage in the Policymaking Process in
Latin America: The Different Functions of the Judiciary . . . . 77
Mariana Magaldi de Sousa
CHAPter 5
Inside the Cabinet: The Influence of Ministers in the
Policymaking Process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Cecilia Martínez-Gallardo
iv CONTENTS
CHAPter 6
The Weakest Link: The Bureaucracy and Civil Service
Systems in Latin America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147
Laura Zuvanic and Mercedes Iacoviello, with
Ana Laura Rodríguez Gusta
CHAPter 7
Decentralizing Power in Latin America:
The Role of Governors in National Policymaking . . . . . . .177
Francisco Monaldi
CHAPter 8
Business Politics and Policymaking in Contemporary
Latin America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Ben Ross Schneider
CHAPter 9
Labor Organizations and Their Role in the Era of Political
and Economic Reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .247
M. Victoria Murillo and Andrew Schrank
CHAPter 10
The Latin American News Media and the Policymaking
Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .269
Sallie Hughes
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .289
About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .335
CONTENTS v
tABLes
2.1 Party Institutionalization Index, Latin American
Democracies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.2 Nationalization Index, Latin American Democracies. . . . . 28
2.3 Party System Nationalization Scores and Major Party
Nationalization Scores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.4 Fragmentation, Legislative Contingents, and Polarization. . . 34
2.5 Centralization of Power in the Political Parties . . . . . . . 39
2.6 Extent of Programmatic Politics in Latin American
Democracies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
3.1 Bicameral Symmetry in Latin America, Selected Countries . . 53
3.2 Legislative Powers of Presidents in Latin America . . . . . . 56
3.3 Chief Executive’s Partisan Control of the Legislature. . . . . 58
3.4 Incentives for the Personal Vote and District Magnitude . . . 61
3.5 Measures of Legislatures’ Capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . 68
4.1 The Four Potential Roles of the Judiciary in the
Policymaking Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
4.2 The Three Dimensions of Judicial Activism . . . . . . . . . 93
4.3 Relative Judicial Independence, Selected Latin American
Countries, 1975 and 2005. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
4.4 Typology of Judicial Roles and Judicial Activism,
Ten Latin American Countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
5.1 Prevalence of Coalitions in Latin America, 1982–2003 . . . .127
5.2 Duration of Ministers, by Country, 1990–2003 (months) . . .140
5.3 Some Basic Features of Latin American Cabinets . . . . . .144
6.1 Integrated Human Resources Management Model . . . . . .150
7.1 The Influence of Governors and Determinants of That
Influence, Selected Latin American Countries . . . . . . . .195
8.1 Voluntary Encompassing Business Associations,
Latin America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .223
8.2 Business Appointees in Selected Government Cabinets . . . .230
8.3 Perceived Corruption in Latin America, 1996 and 2004 . . . .232
8.4 Portfolio Distribution of Political Activity by Business
since the 1990s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .233
8.5 Scope and Implementation in Policymaking . . . . . . . .235
8.6 Distribution of Costs in Policymaking . . . . . . . . . . .236
9.1 Union Organizational Structure in the 1980s . . . . . . . .253
vi CONTENTS
9.2 A Typology of Economic Reforms and Union Responses . . .256
9.3 Union Strategies and Outcomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . .263
FIgures
2.1 Ideological Polarization and the President’s Legislative
Contingent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2.2 Programmatic versus Clientelist Politics, Latin American
Democracies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
3.1 Legislative Passage Rates of Presidents, Selected
Latin American Countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
3.2 Rates of Reelection to Lower House, Selected Countries . . . 62
3.3 Difference between Congressional Committees and
Executive Cabinet Posts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
3.4 Ratio of Number of Committees to Size of Legislature . . . . 65
3.5 A Two-Dimensional MDS Representation of 18
Latin American Legislatures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
4.1 Contribution to Broadening and Consolidating Diffuse
and Collective Rights, Brazil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108
5.1 Partisanship and Cabinet Stability, Latin America . . . . . .130
5.2 Number of Cabinet Portfolios in Latin America,
2005 and 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132
5.3 Duration of Finance Ministers, Latin America . . . . . . .137
5.4 Ministers per Portfolio by Country, Latin America,
1985–2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
5.5 Cabinet Features and Policy Stability, Latin America. . . . .145
6.1 Merit Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .154
6.2 Functional Capacity Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .157
6.3 Civil Service Development Index . . . . . . . . . . . . .161
6.4 Bureaucratic Configurations and Prevailing Roles . . . . . .164
6.5 Examples of Bureaucratic Configurations . . . . . . . . . .171
7.1 Index of Malapportionment in the Senate . . . . . . . . . .201
7.2 Index of Malapportionment in the Lower Chamber . . . . .201
7.3 Expenditure Decentralization and Vertical Imbalance, 1995 . .202
7.4. Expenditure Decentralization, 1995 and 2004 . . . . . . . .202
9.1 Openness and Unionization in Latin America, 1981–85 . . . .251
9.2 Sources of Collective Labor Law Reform, Domestic and
Transnational Alliances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .259
Acknowledgments
T
he initial inspiration for this project came from the work on Argen-
tina by two of the editors of this book, Pablo Spiller and Mariano
Tommasi, reflected in their book, The Institutional Foundations
of Public Policy in Argentina (Cambridge University Press, 2007). In
that work, Spiller and Tommasi developed a methodology that, with
some refinements and adaptations, became the basis for the conceptual
framework used in the related volume Policymaking in Latin America:
How Politics Shapes Policies, published in this series in 2008. While that
volume focuses on country cases, this one looks at the role of specific
institutions and actors in the policymaking process.
The book is part of a larger agenda on political institutions and
policy outcomes in Latin America being carried out by the Research
Department of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which
includes the 2006 Report on Economic and Social Progress in Latin
America, The Politics of Policies.
The chapters in this book were written by well-known experts
under the auspices of the IDB Research Department, and the coordina-
tion of Ernesto Stein and Mariano Tommasi. Luis Estanislao (Koldo)
Echebarría, and, in particular, Mark Payne, also helped coordinate part
of the work. Carlos Scartascini joined this project at a later stage and
was instrumental in transforming a collection of working papers into
the cohesive set of chapters that follow.
The process of writing the book was highly interactive, with ample
opportunities for cross-fertilization among the authors of the chapters,
as well as frequent give and take (in both directions) between these
authors and the project coordinators. A seminar organized by the IDB
in Washington, D.C. in March 2005 was a very important focal point
in this interactive process. For their help in organizing this seminar, as
well as for their invaluable support during the whole process, we want
to thank Norelis Betancourt and Raquel Gómez of the IDB.
We would also like to recognize our colleagues at the Research
Department of the IDB and at the Universidad de San Andrés for their
viii ACkNOwlEdgmENTS
support, encouragement, and feedback. Within the IDB, we especially
want to recognize the support received from Guillermo Calvo, Santiago
Levy, and Eduardo Lora, Chief Economists and Managers of the Research
Department at different stages of progress of this project. Without their
support, this project would not have been possible. Mariano Tommasi
acknowledges the support of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial
Foundation and the Inter-American Development Bank.
Apart from the authors of the chapters and those already recognized
above, many others deserve recognition for their valuable comments at
different stages of the process. These include Pablo Alonso, Mauricio
Cárdenas, Fernando Carrillo-Flórez, Juan Carlos Cortázar Velarde,
Rafael de la Cruz, Ariel Fiszbein, Phil Keefer, Fabrice Lehoucq, Andrés
Mejía Acosta, Bernardo Mueller, Juan Carlos Navarro, Michael Penfold,
Carlos Pereira, Javier Santiso, and an anonymous referee. Participants at
various seminars in which some of the papers were presented should be
recognized as well. The chapter authors are also grateful to the various
workshop participants and interviewees who gave generously of their
time and knowledge. Barbara Murphy and Maria Florencia Guerzovich
provided valuable research assistance to Ben Ross Schneider. A revised
version of Ben Ross Schneider’s chapter appears in The Oxford Handbook
of Business and Government, edited by David Coen, Wyn Grant, and
Graham Wilson and published by Oxford University Press.
Ideas become successful books thanks to capable editorial and
administrative support. For their invaluable support in this area, we
would like to acknowledge Rita Funaro, María Helena Melasecca, Mariela
Semidey, and John Smith. For pulling everything together, we are most
grateful to the main editor, Nancy Morrison, as well as the publications
team at the IDB, led by Gerardo Giannoni and Rita Funaro, with the
support of John Dunn Smith and Elisabeth Schmitt. Finally, Melisa
Iorianni assisted in the final stages of the process, and Cesar Rodriguez
Mosquera provided valuable inputs for the drafting of Chapter 1.