Can Subnational Autonomy Strengthen Democracy in Bolivia?

Abstract

Bolivia recently implemented new reforms granting autonomy to departmental, regional, municipal, and indigenous and rural governments. What effects might these have on public investment patterns, government responsiveness, government fiscal relations, the sustainability of public finances, and political accountability? I examine autonomies in light of fiscal federalism theory, and evidence on the effects of Bolivia's 1994 decentralization. By submitting new reforms to the dual rigors of theory and evidence, we can try to arrive at contingent predictions of its likely effects. These allow us to make recommendations for adjustments that may strengthen democracy and give voice to the poor.

“Show me the Numbers”: Examining the Dynamics Between Evaluation and Government Performance in Developing Countries

“…When the Morales administration entered office in 2006, decades after structural readjustment policies had weakened state functions (Dickovick and Eaton, 2013;Fauget, 2014), the state health system was "fragmented and incoherent", made up of public, NGO-led and private health care systems (Farthing and Kohl, 2014, p. 108). The public health sector reached less than half the population, characterized by "administrative incompetence, an obsolete and contradictory legal framework, and profound dependency on international donors" (Farthing and Kohl, 2014, p. 108); one in four children was malnourished nation-wide, with as many as two thirds of children stunted in the highland region (CONAN, 2006).…”

“…In other studies, more formal community-based accountability systems have been successful in improving the provision of infrastructure services in Bolivia (Yanez-Pagans and Michacado-Salas, 2014). Bolivia in particular, with its long history of participatory planning and decentralized government (Fauget, 2014) is a place where such approaches would be expected to work in a variety of sectors. But studies also show that community-level accountability systems work best when the community itself values the public service, public officials have an incentive to engage in monitoring, and there is a formal process for the public to voice complaints and hold providers accountable (Yanez-Pagans and Michacado-Salas, 2014).…”

Dos Décadas de Cambios en el Escenario Político y Partidario de Bolivia: el lugar del MAS y de los demás

“…Entre otros, la Ley de Participación Popular descentralizó a los municipios 20% de la receta fiscal nacional, cuya asignación debería ser definida en los respectivos estatutos autonómicos municipales, y las fronteras de los municipios fueron expandidas para incluir distritos y áreas rurales, siendo creados nuevos municipios, totalizando 328. Esas medidas representaron un profundo cambio institucional, ya que antes el gobierno local no existía en la mayor parte de Bolivia (Faguet, 2013).…”

Decentralization as a Tool for Ethnic Diversity Accommodation: A Conceptual Analysis

“…Therefore, decentralization has been the major focus of many governments not only in developing world, but also in the well-developed world intended to resolve group conflicts and to build ethnic and social cohesion in many heterogeneous societies. As Faguet (2013) emphasized, decentralization has been one of the most widespread and influential policy trends of the present generation.…”