Miguel Angel Centeno

The politics of expertise in Latin America

Preface - Notes on the Contributors - The Politics of Expertise in Latin America: Introduction M.A.Centeno & P.Silva - The Quest for Modernity: Latin Americas Technocratic Ideas in Historical Perspective M.Baud - The Politics of Knowledge: Hayek and Technocracy M.A.Centeno - Pablo Ramirez: A Political Technocrat avant-la-lettre P.Silva - The Material Bases of Technocracy: Investor Confidence and Neoliberalism in Latin America B.R.Schneider - The World Bank and the Transformation of Latin American Society P.van Dijck - Economists in Party Politics: Chilean Democracy in the Era of the Markets V.Montecinos - Stars of the Crisis: The Ascent of Economists in Peruvian Public Life C.M.Conaghan - Feminism and Technocracy: Femocrats in Brazil in the Eighties I.van Halsema - Technocrats and Politicians in the Democratic Politics of Argentina (1983-95) C.Huneeus - Technocracy a la Mexicana: Antecedent to Democracy? R.A.Camp - References - Index

Neoliberalism and Patterns of Economic Performance, 1980-2000

Neoliberal discourse often produces the impression that the world has undergone a wholesale shift toward laissez-faire and that this shift has produced economic prosperity. This article examines national economic data to discern the degree to which (1) governments have in fact retreated from the market and (2) countries have enjoyed increasing economic prosperity over a period in which they have supposedly been liberalizing. The evidence is mixed on both counts. Although international capital mobility and trade liberalism appears to have grown over the past two decades, there is little evidence of a broad scaling back of governments. Over the same period, countries have not experienced any appreciable improvement in growth, cross-national equality, employment, or national debt loads, although there is some evidence of improved price stability near the end of the 1990s.

The Politics of Expertise in Latin America: Introduction

From the Rio Grande to Tierra del Fuego, technocrats are triumphant. Despite differences in the economic and political evolution of the Latin American countries during the last decades, they share one trend: an increasing number of economic and financial experts taking key positions at the highest levels of the decisionmaking process. Called by a variety of names ranging from tecnicos, tecnocratas, techno-politicians to Chicago Boys or technopols, these new actors have come to dominate economic policymaking in a variety of countries since the 1960s.

Toward a new Cuba? : legacies of a revolution

This work provides an analysis of change in contemporary Cuba, the ways in which present circumstances will shape the future and the extent to which Cuba fits, or defies, models of transition. It also looks at how political, social and economic sectors might respond to various transition scenarios.

Liberalism and the Good Society in the Iberian World

This article investigates the causes behind the limited success of neoliberal economic policies in the Iberian world. In addition to Latin America, the author includes Portugal, Spain, and the Philippines in the analysis. The author argues that, in the absence of strong liberal states able to enforce the rule of law, economic liberalization has failed, expanding inequalities rather than bequeathing prosperity. The article gives special attention to variations in the outcomes of liberalization that expose the limitations of cultural explanations.

A Cross-National Comparison of Sub-National Variation

Previous research has highlighted that, in addition to being operationally opaque, the concept of state capacity has been confined to national and cross-national analysis, with inadequate attention paid to variations at the regional and sub-national levels of the state. Our current research seeks to help remedy this lacuna. Inspired by the growing consensus that state capacity is not monolithic, but instead comprises capabilities distributed in distinct ways across sectors and institutions, we have developed a parsimonious approach to understanding the concept so as to increase its utility. Specifically, we explore variations in the provision of government services across sectors, wealth, geography, and urbanity in three countries: India, Peru, and Ukraine—representing Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. Importantly, we offer an analysis of state capacity as a function of variation as measured by standard deviation.

Who Gives, Who Takes? “Real America” and Contributions to the Nation–State:

Although service to the nation–state features in academic and lay understandings of patriotism, claims of patriotism are rarely examined alongside contributions to the nation–state. The present study examines four behaviors—military enlistment, voting, monetary contributions, and census response—to evaluate the claim that certain parts of the United States, and specifically the communities of “real America,” contribute more than others to the country overall. Consistent with the words of several electoral candidates, ruralness, religiosity, political conservatism, and gun culture collectively identify a distinctive set of communities where residents are both more likely to report “American” as their ancestry and to vote for Republican presidential candidates, including Donald Trump. However, visual and statistical evidence undermine the claim that these communities contribute more than other parts of the country. Instead, and in several respects, these communities make smaller contributions to the nation–state than one would expect based on other characteristics. The findings undermine divisive claims about a “real” America that gives more than its “fair share.”

The Ever-Studied Isle

[First paragraph]Cuba Transnational. Damian J. Fern andez (ed.). Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2005. xvii + 216 pp. (Cloth US

Democracy Within Reason: Technocratic Revolution in Mexico

65.00)Cuba’s Aborted Reform: Socioeconomic Effects, International Comparisons, and Transition Policies. Carme lo Mesa-Lago & Jorge F. Pere z-Lope z. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2005. xx + 223 pp. (Cloth US

The Lopsided Continent: Inequality in Latin America

59.95)Cuba, the United States, and the Post-Cold War World: The International Dimensions of the Washington-Havana Relationship. Moris Morley & Chris McGillion (eds.). Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2005. xi + 286 pp. (Cloth US