Archives - Page 10

  • Public Investment Perspectives in Central America
    No. 20-21 (1991)

    Between October 30 and November 1, 1991, the Central American Institute of Public Administration (ICAP) held the First Conference on "Prospects for Public Investment in Central America" in the context of stabilization and structural adjustment programs.

    The central themes discussed at the Conference were as follows:

    1. Stabilization and structural adjustment policies.

    The objective was to address the fundamental aspects of stabilization and structural adjustment policies, i.e., the background, actors, what type of economic policy instruments have been applied and what the economic, social and political effects have been, as well as their impact on public investments.

    2. Restructuring and modernization of the administrative apparatus of the State within the framework of current policies and sustainable development.

    The objective of this topic was to address the most important aspects of the economic policies linked to the restructuring and modernization of the State. Presentations highlighted the location of the role of the public administration with a view to obtaining greater management flexibility within the new context, as well as considering, among other aspects, some guidelines related to the prospects for the new role of the State.

    3. Analysis of the public investment planning process: its new role in view of the decade's prospects

    Investment is a fundamental element in the reactivation process of Central American economies. Basically, by increasing public and private investment, it will be possible to improve the possibilities of future growth and achieve the necessary technological upgrading. This means that scarce internal and external resources will have to be used efficiently, therefore, it will be necessary to establish a planning system for public investment programs in accordance with the changes that must take place in the productive structure.

    The papers presented in this Journal respond to the central themes outlined above, and undoubtedly provide valuable information on public investment in Central America.

     

  • State Reform
    No. 19 (1990)

    The processes of political democratization that have been taking shape in Central America in recent years have been accompanied by a process of State Reform that seeks, firstly, to promote citizen participation and improve its representativeness and, secondly, to modernize the State so that it can be inserted into the new economic policies of structural adjustment that are being implemented in almost all the countries of the region.

    State reform is conceived as an instrument to support economic liberalization, the democratization of society and the consolidation of public finances. In this way, this process becomes a school for managing the scarcity of resources available to the State and achieving an increase in effectiveness, efficiency and productivity.

    The reform of the State has required several actions: tax reforms to improve the tax collection base and tax efficiency, reforms in the banking/financial sector, consolidation of public finances and promotion of the deconcentration and decentralization of its administrative apparatus.

    This process has been proposed in most Central American countries and what differentiates them are the actions implemented so far. The cases presented in this issue from Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica attest to this. However, the objective pursued is the same: to achieve greater efficiency and effectiveness with a state apparatus that responds to the economic constraints imposed by the application of structural adjustment policies.

     

  • Political and administrative decentralization
    No. 18 (1990)

    The welfare State, characterized by a strong interference and intervention in the economic and social fields, tended to promote policies aimed at strengthening national development through the creation of autonomous institutions in charge of performing specialized functions in specific services.

    The proliferation of these bodies and the absence of balanced institutions of public power gradually led the Legislative to hand over more functions and powers to the Executive Branch, turning local governments into the appendix of this power, which led to the inactivity of the municipalities and the decline of the representative function of the communal interests.

    The loss of local power and the lack of basic guidelines of the Legislative with respect to municipal autonomy, constitute fundamental factors of analysis that diagnose the local reality, necessary to propose the relative changes that such regime requires, and to make possible the relaxation of the centers of power, facilitating citizen participation.

    On the other hand, the strengthening of the central level and the consequent weakening of political-administrative decentralization constitute current problems that require processes of change to promote important decentralization options to transform the state apparatus and achieve citizen participation in the management of public affairs.

    The current social dynamics of Central American countries and the political opening, manifest a will to carry out processes that strengthen the faithful and democratic representation of local governments, by means of popular participation, as a response to the economic-social and political crisis.

    From this point of view, the strengthening of local governments and political-administrative decentralization is currently expressed as the right and capacity of communities to order and manage an important part of the public affairs that concern them, within the framework of the law, under their own responsibility and for the benefit of their own localities.

    It is in this context that ICAP dedicates this issue to political and administrative democratization and to Local Governments, to invite them to reflect on the problems and optional measures of practical action, for the benefit of the strengthening of citizen participation.

     

  • Public policies: methodological approaches
    No. 17 (1989)

    Since the 1970s, public policy analysis has gained great importance for academics, technicians and politicians.

    One of the factors that has contributed the most to this fact is, without a doubt, the so-called crisis of the Keynesian State or Interventionist State. What for some analysts had constituted the possibility of achieving a rationalization of society that would guarantee the social cohesion and integration that the market had not been able to achieve, became a factor of systematic crisis. For others who, as Gouh points out, identified the policies of the "Welfare State" exclusively with private interests linked to large corporations, during the crisis, they found themselves in the paradox of defending state interventionism. Both have been forced to redefine their approaches. Thus, we find that the former, from different points of view, have felt obliged to recognize the diverse and multidetermined nature of public policies, while at the same time striving to develop a series of evaluative "technologies" that seek to provide decision-making and policy management with greater rationality.

    The second group, who have a more critical perspective, have recognized not only that state policies are a historical result of struggles and compromises between classes and social sectors, but also that internally a series of factors of various kinds (organizational, administrative, etc.), located in what Foucault has called the "microphysics of power", weigh heavily, which, without being determining factors, do condition the formulation and application of policies.

    This has led to new conceptions of the State and politics, and to greater concern for understanding the dynamics of these realities, leading to the incorporation of heterodox and diverse perspectives in terms of the dimensions that are incorporated into such analyses.

  • Development financing
    No. 16 (1989)

    The crisis affecting the Central American isthmus has accelerated the process of irruption into social and political life of traditionally dominated groups, has created favorable conditions for the spread of modern ideologies, but has also allowed conservative political conceptions to express themselves directly or covertly under new political-ideological garb.

    Overcoming the crisis represents a challenge that affects the content and scope of public action in each of the countries of the region, especially in terms of finding formulas for solving medium- and long-term financial problems. Central America needs international financial resources, and at the same time it must make a better internal allocation and use of its own and international resources to obtain the greatest impact in the execution of stabilization, reactivation and economic development policies, as well as social welfare. Central America requires better payment conditions for its absolute external debt.

    External financial resources are partially blocked by the conditions established by international financial organizations, especially those related to the payment of interest and overdue amortizations of the external debt and the need to advance in structural adjustment programs.

    Central America has internal financial resources, but in several countries the owners of these resources only make them available to a minority of businessmen and financial intermediaries or invest them abroad; there are even cases in which these owners demand that they be given access to financial resources obtained from abroad. In view of this, some Central American governments have adopted measures to improve the collection and channeling of credit, one of them being bank nationalization.

    Central American businessmen are facing a market problem, so the reactivation of regional economic integration and the opening of export possibilities to the US and Europe become the tasks of the moment.

    Negotiations on the payment of the foreign debt and the possibilities of obtaining additional financing is one of the main concerns of the Central American governments.

    Given the importance of these issues, the Central American Institute of Public Administration has decided to dedicate this issue of its magazine to Central America: Financing for Development.

     

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