Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T18:56:37.633Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Competitiveness and Democracy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Richard Feinberg
Richard Feinberg*
Affiliation:
Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, University of California, San Diego. [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

After reviewing progress in Latin America's economic stabilization and international competitiveness in the last two decades, this essay discusses the current post–Washington Consensus “social democratic convergence” agenda, which aims to sharpen market efficiency, improve the quality of democratic governance, and advance equity goals by attacking the social deficit. Two illustrative examples, at opposite ends of the development spectrum, are Nicaragua's pro-CAFTA agenda and Chile's Chile Compete program. More generally, pluralistic democracy can hamper progress by giving veto powers to recalcitrant vested interests; but enlightened political leadership can make gains by combining carefully crafted coalitions, international support, popular pressures, and an attractive ideological message.

Type
Policy Issues
Information
Latin American Politics and Society , Volume 50 , Issue 1 , Spring 2008 , pp. 153 - 168
Copyright
Copyright © University of Miami 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Brune, Nancy, and Garrett, Geoffrey. 2005. The Globalization Rorschach Test: International Economic Integration, Inequality, and the Role of Government. Annual Review of Political Science 8: 399–423.Google Scholar
Cardoso, Fernando Henrique. 2006. The Accidental President of Brazil: A Memoir. New York : Public Affairs.Google Scholar
Cook, Maria Lorena. 2007. The Politics of Labor Reform in Latin America: Between Flexibility and Rights. University Park : Pennsylvania State University Press.Google Scholar
Feinberg, Richard. 1990. Comment. In Williamson 1990. 22–24.Google Scholar
Finger, Michael, and Nogues, Julio J., eds. 2006. Safeguards and Antidumping in Latin American Trade Liberalization: Fighting Fire with Fire. New York : Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Garrett, Geoffrey. 1998. Partisan Politics in The Global Economy. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Haggard, Stephan, and Kaufman, Robert. Forthcoming. Recrafting Social Contracts: Welfare Reform in Latin America, East Asia, and Central Europe. Princeton : Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Huber, Evelyne, and Solt, Fred. 2004. Successes and Failure of Neoliberalism. Latin American Research Review 39, 3 (October): 150–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
International Monetary Fund (IMF). 2006. Regional Economic Outlook: Western Hemisphere. Washington, DC : IMF.Google Scholar
Lapper, Richard. 2006. Living with Hugo: U.S. Policy Toward Hugo Chávez's Venezuela. New York : Council on Foreign Relations.Google Scholar
Levitsky, Steven, and Murillo, Maria Victoria, eds. 2005. Argentine Democracy: The Politics of Institutional Weakness. University Park : Pennsylvania State University Press.Google Scholar
Lora, Eduardo, ed. 2006. The State of State Reform in Latin America. Washington, DC : Inter-American Development Bank.Google Scholar
Nelson, Joan M. 1992. Consolidating Economic Adjustment: Aspects of the Political Economy of Sustained Reform. In Development Finance and Policy Reform: Essays in the Theory and Practice of Conditionality in Less Developed Countries, ed. Mosley, Paul. New York : St. Martin's Press. 105–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Organization of American States (OAS). 2001. Inter-American Democracy Charter. Washington, DC : OAS.Google Scholar
Przeworski, Adam. 1994. How Many Ways Can Be Third? In Latin American Political Economy in the Age of Neoliberal Reform: Theoretical and Comparative Perspectives, ed. Smith, William C., Acuna, Carlos, and Gamarra, Eduardo. New Brunswick : Transaction. 312–33.Google Scholar
Sousa, Mariana. 2006. A Brief Overview of Judicial Reform in Latin America: Objectives, Challenges, and Accomplishments. In Lora 2006. 87–123.Google Scholar
Stallings, Barbara. 2006. Finance for Development: Latin America in Comparative Perspective. Washington, DC : Brookings Institution Press.Google Scholar
Stein, Ernesto, and Tommasi, Mariano, eds. 2006. The Politics of Policies: Economic and Social Progress in Latin America, 2006 Report. Washington, DC : Inter-American Development Bank.Google Scholar
Tulchin, Joseph S., and Ruthenburg, Meg, eds. 2006. Citizenship in Latin America. Boulder : Lynne Rienner.Google Scholar
United Nations Development Program (UNDP). 2004. Democracy in Latin America: Towards a Citizens' Democracy. New York : United Nations.Google Scholar
United Nations Economic Commission on Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). 2007. Latin America and the Caribbean in the World Economy 2006. Trends 2007. Santiago : ECLAC.Google Scholar
Weisbrot, Mark, Baker, Dean, and Rosnick, David. 2005. The Scorecard on Development: 25 Years of Diminished Progress. Washington, DC : Center for Economic and Policy Research.Google Scholar
Williamson, John, ed. 1990. Latin American Adjustment: How Much Has Happened? Washington, DC : Institute for International Economics.Google Scholar
World Bank. Various years. World Development Indicators. Washington, DC : World Bank.Google Scholar
World Economic Forum. Various years. Global Competitiveness Report. New York : Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar