Decentralization in the Andes: Twenty Years of Experience

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

One of the most pressing trends over the past two decades in the Andean countries and Latin America as a whole has been decentralization. Hailed by advocates as a means to improve democracy, public service delivery, and state effectiveness, the Andean countries began to pass decentralization reforms in the 1980s and early 1990s. How effective have these efforts been? Have they achieved the reformers’ goals? This panel evaluates the decades of experience with decentralization in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela. It encourages us to ask: Is decentralization a sustainable policy in the Andes or is it more precarious than we think?

Sub Track

• Political Institutions and Processes

Session Organizer

• Stephanie L McNulty, Franklin and Marshall College

Chair

• David Scott Palmer, Boston University

Individual Presentations

• Recentralización estatal en Venezuela, Bolivia y Ecuador - Felipe E Burbano, FLACSO

• Evaluating Participatory Decentralization Reforms in the Andes - Stephanie L McNulty, Franklin and Marshall College

• Exclusiones, descentralizaciones y autonomías en Perú: Las transformaciones del presencia del estado en el Valle de los ríos Apurimac, Ene y Mantaro (VRAEM) - Jefrey Antonio Gamarra Carrillo, member

• Corrupción, elecciones y el proceso de descentralización en el Perú - Mariano Arones Palomino, Praxis

Discussant

• Cynthia McClintock, George Washington University