Eliza Willis

Fiscal Decentralization: A Political Theory with Latin American Cases

Theories of fiscal federalism explain the efficiency and other economic gains from decentralization but do not explain its extent and nature in practice. The authors develop a political theory of decentralization that focuses on the lines of political accountability between politicians at different levels of government. The more accountable central-level politicians--presidents and legislators--are to subnational politicians, the greater the extent of decentralization and the more it will conform to the preferences of subnational politicians, for example, with respect to the degree of the centers discretion. The model is tested on five Latin American countries that, although formally decentralized, in fact exhibit wide differences in the distribution of spending and revenue responsibilities. The theory also helps explain a number of problems governments have encountered in decentralizing, including subnational debt crises and a mismatch between responsibilities and resources.

Explaining Bureaucratic Independence in Brazil: The Experience of the National Economic Development Bank

This article assesses competing explanations of the independence from political and economic elites achieved by Brazils Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Economico (BNDE) during the 195os. Whereas others have stressed the actions taken by Presidents Getulio Vargas and Juscelino Kubitschek, I attribute the Banks remarkable independence to a cadre of innovative civil servants. In this account, independence is measured by control over personnel recruitment, loan allocation, and generation of funds. The considerable control BNDE bureaucrats exercised over personnel recruitment and loan allocation countered their limited control over funding, permitting the Bank to become an independent and effective development institution. Recent scholarship on Latin America has focused on the contribution to economic development of state bureaucracies, operating independently of narrow interests. Most agree that bureaucratic independence is necessary for the implementation of any state-sponsored development strategy. In spite of their importance, we know little about what fosters the creation and institutionalisation of such bureaucracies. The search for answers has led several to re-examine the remarkable experience of Brazil during the presidency of Juscelino Kubitschek (I9 5 6-6 I).1 One of the countrys most successful development plans, the * The present research was funded by grants from the Joint Committee on Latin America of the Social Science Research Council and the American Council of Learned Societies, the Inter-American Foundation, and the Fulbright Commission. Special thanks to Barry Ames, Leslie Armijo, Peter Evans, Arnold Fleischmann, Barbara Geddes, Robert Grey, Stephan Haggard, Mark Osiel, Marvin Rintala, Ben Ross Schneider, Kathryn Sikkink, Barbara Trish, and the Journals referees for their comments on earlier versions of this work. 1The publication of several books about the Kubitschek presidency after the return to civilian rule in I985 suggests a continuing fascination with this period in Brazilian history. Recent publications include Ricardo Bielschowsky, Pensamento economico brasileiro: o ciclo ideologico do desenvolvimentismo (Rio de Janeiro, 1988); G. Mayrink, Juscelino (Sao Paulo, 1988); F. de Assis Barbosa, Juscelino Kubitschek: Uma revisdo na politica brasileira (Rio de Janeiro, 1988); Senado Federal, JK, o estadista do desenvolvimento (Brasilia, I991); A. de Castro Gomes, O Brasil do JK (Rio de Janeiro, I99i); A. Eliza J. Willis is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Grinnell College, Iowa. J. Lat. Amer. Stud. 27, 625-66I Copyright ? 1995 Cambridge University Press 625 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.108 on Fri, 17 Jun 2016 06:47:02 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms

Supporting a teaching and learning community across borders: Grinnell College at Gobabeb

For the past fourteen years, two Grinnell College graduates have been selected each year for a competitive one-year Grinnell Corps Service Fellowship at the Gobabeb Research and Training Centre in Namibia. A recent survey of the 28 Fellows that completed the program revealed that this is an invaluable experience for the participants, with more than half revealing that it was “life-changing” and a further 43% reporting that it re-affirmed their life goals. Most Fellows felt that their most valuable contribution to Gobabeb was teaching and mentoring Namibian secondary and tertiary students. All Fellows are now either in graduate school or employed in a diverse array of positions reflecting their professional interests that in some fashion “support the common good”, an integral part of Grinnells mission statement. Synergistic activities that have arisen from this Grinnell–Gobabeb relationship include visiting lecturer opportunities at Grinnell for Namibians; internships for Grinnell students and service fellowships for Grinnell faculty in Namibia; a faculty development seminar in Namibia resulting in more class modules on dryland and southern African topics; a course with embedded travel to the Namib Desert; and independent research projects for students. These exchanges are invaluable for cultivating the cross-cultural understanding needed to address the vexing global environmental challenges of this century.