2 - Public policies in complex societies: Argentina, a case of a cyclical society

Summary

Introduction

In this chapter, we propose to show an analytical device and a method that we developed from the State and Public Policies Area of Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO) Argentina to analyze public policies in complex societies such as those in Latin America, and particularly cyclical societies such as Argentina due to the interruptions and changes in the accumulation model. It is composed of four interrelated aspects.

• 1. A methodological strategy and interpretative frameworks characterized by the priority use of qualitative methods to explain social problems and analyze public policies over the use of quantitative methods, without failing to integrate them in a complementary manner in research.

• 2. A holistic method of analysis, which integrates public policies within broader processes of change, framed in a theory of the State and Public Policy Area of FLACSO Argentina on models of state–society relationship. This integrates recent changes in governments, and development models, particularly in Argentina, during the governments of N. Kirchner and C. Fernández de Kirchner (2003–2015), and that of Cambiemos rule by M. Macri (2015–2019). In turn, the method integrates in an interdisciplinary way the contributions from political science, philosophy, sociology, and political economy to understand social processes.

• 3. It is a style of analysis and methodology that prioritizes the agency capacity of the actors over the institutional, and where the focus is on power and the conflict in the distribution of resources and public goods that is at stake in each case. In particular, in a society that is not only complex but also cyclical, due to the conflict between two power coalitions and political traditions: the neoliberal and the national-popular. We analyze the dimensions that include policy options or restrictions, the context of power, and the political project of the coalitions.

• 4. We use three levels of understanding of the public arena. First, the global dimension, which refers to the identification of external factors, geopolitical changes, and changes in the economic and social policies that the state intends to implement; and modifications linked to the characteristics of civil society, requests and interests of the actors. Second, the local dimension, through a territorial analysis, identifies endogenous aspects of public policies such as the processes and interaction of civil society actors with public bureaucracies. Third, the regional dimension of development processes and integration policies in connection with the national development model.