The Political Economy of Decentralization in Bolivia

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Robinson, J. Andrew B.
Copyright Year	2009
Abstract	In these notes I outline some political economy factors relevant for the decentralization policy of Bolivia. Decentralization is an important change in political institutions which can improve the efficiency of the delivery of public services and can also promote democracy. However, even if efficient, since decentralization also redistributes political power and influence, it is unlikely to be unanimously supported unless a complex system of compensation is simultaneously introduced. I discuss who the central political groups are in Bolivia, what are their interests in decentralization and the instruments they can use to influence the outcome. I also discuss why the demand for decentralization is so intense now and whether or not promoting will help to solve the current political crisis in Bolivia. 1 I am greatly indebted to Carlos Toranzo for his warm and generous hospitality in La Paz and sharing with me his deep wisdom about the nature of Bolivian history, politics and society. I would also like to thank Jonas Frank for his innumerable ideas and insights. I greatly benefited from discussions with Germán Antelo, Iván Arias, Roberto Barbery, Franz Barrios, Carlos Dabdoub, Mario Galindo, Alfonso Garcia, Edgardo Mosqueira, Oscar Oritz, Nicholás Quenta, Marcelo Renjel, Ismael Serrate, Oscar Serrate and Gerardo Velasco. I also thank Jorge Dominguez and Dani Rodrik for their comments and suggestions. “In England after you sign a law the conflict stops. In Bolivia, after you sign a law the conflict starts.” Oscar Serrate
File Format	PDF HTM / HTML
Alternate Webpage(s)	http://scholar-harris.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/jamesrobinson/files/jr_wb_decentralization_bolivia.pdf
Language	English
Access Restriction	Open
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article