Politicians and Economic Reform in New Democracies: Argentina and the Philippines in the 1990s

366 Pages·2002·5.82 MB·English

by  Kent Eaton

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Politicians and Economic Reform in New Democracies
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Politicians and Economic Reform in New Democracies
ARGENTINA AND THE PHILIPPINES IN THE 1990s
K E N T E A T O N
THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS
UNIVERSITY PARK, PENNSYLVANIA
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Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Eaton, Kent, 1968–
Politicians and economic reform in new democracies : Argentina and the Philippines in
the 1990s / Kent Eaton.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-271-02193-4(cloth : acid-free paper)
1. Taxation—Developing countries—Case studies. 2. Taxation—Argentina.
3. Taxation—Philippines. 4. Fiscal policy—Political aspects—Case studies.
5. Elections—Argentina. 6. Elections—Philippines. 7. Democratization—
Economic aspects—Case studies. I. Title.
HJ2351.7.E28 2002
336.2'009599—dc21
2001055297
Copyright © 2002The Pennsylvania State University
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Published by The Pennsylvania State University Press,
University Park, PA 16802-1003
It is the policy of The Pennsylvania State University Press to use acid-free paper for the first
printing of all clothbound books. Publications on uncoated stock satisfy the minimum
requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48–1992.
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To the memory of my father and brother,
MORRIS EATON and KEVIN EATON
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Contents
List of Tables and Figures ix
Acknowledgments xi
PART I INTRODUCTION
1 Why Study Legislators and Economic Reform? 3
2 Legislators and the Politics of Reform 29
3 The Logic of Fiscal Adjustment in Developing Countries 61
PART II REFORM EXPERIENCES
4 Policy Reform in a Candidate-Centered Electoral System:
The Philippines 91
5 Policy Reform in a Party-Centered Electoral System: Argentina 129
6 Legislators and Bureaucratic Reform 169
7 Legislators and Decentralization 203
PART III CONCLUSION
8 Beyond Taxation: Other Reform Arenas in the Philippines and
Argentina 237
9 Tax Reforms in Other Developing Countries 263
10 Theoretical Perspectives and Implications 289
Appendix: Interviews 307
References 311
Index 333
vii
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TABLES AND FIGURES
TABLES
2.1 Reelection rates for legislators in a select group of countries 45
3.1 Contribution of tax receipts to the economic crisis in selected develop-
ing countries 70
3.2 Distribution of tax revenue among different levels of government in
selected developing countries 77
3.3 Share of taxes on international trade in total tax revenue in Latin
America 79
3.4 Comparison of the range of tax rates on personal and corporate
income in Latin America 83
4.1 Business interests of legislators in the ninth House of Representatives,
1992–1995 99
4.2 EVAT exemptions and their cost in forgone revenue, 1993and
1994 117
4.3 Exemptions approved at different stages in the IVAT legislation,
1996 124
5.1 Post held by deputies from the class of 1991–1995as of
mid-1998 138
5.2 Malapportionment in the Argentine legislature 139
5.3 District magnitude and percentage of individuals with unsatisfied
basic needs by province 140
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