LOCAL EXECUTIVE POWER IN LATIN

AMERICAN CAPITAL CITIES SINCE 1945

Waves of democracy & Import Substitution Industrialization

First Wave of Democracy

First Wave 1776-1920 Impact of United States Revolution World War I “Make the World Safe for

Democracy” First Reverse Wave

Economic difficulties in 1920’s Triumph of Nazism in 1930’s

Second Wave of Democracy

Second “Short” Wave 1944-1960’s Victory by democrats in WW II Dispersion of benefits of industrial revolution to

Latin America Second Reverse Wave 1960’s to early 1980’s

Again, economic dimension critical Middle class fears of the poor Military had major role Bureaucracies used to impose “order”

Import Substitution Industrialization (ISI)

ISI begins in the Great Depression Economic downturn in industrial world provokes

economic disaster in Latin America Latin American elites attempt to regain control

over economic destiny Domestic subsidization of public sector industries

Post World War II Period ECLA becomes most influential of the UN’s

regional economic commissions ECLA gains acceptance of ISI at Breton Woods

Conference

Municipal Government in Second Wave Democracy

Municipal services become more important because of ISI

Lack of administrative talent at the local level leads national political leaders to exempt municipal government from efforts to democratize

Fears for the security of the political regime leads national leaders to keep tight control over the capital cities

Municipal Government in the Second Reverse Wave of

Authoritarianism

Municipal governments treated as administrative subdivisions of national executive

Bureaucratic authoritarian governments are negative toward large new investments in urban infrastructure

Local autonomy of municipal governments increased in matters of policy implementation

Third Wave of Democratization(1980’s – Present)

World-wide recession discredits bureaucratic authoritarian political regimes

Human rights violations frightens many in those groups that initially favored developmentalist dictatorships

Growing global consensus for democracy

Empowerment of Municipal Governments: Third Wave

Democracy

Discrediting of ISI removes important reason for subordination of municipal governments

Human Rights Violations in Bureaucratic Authoritarianism increase willingness to restrict power of central government

Pool of trained professionals increases Local Empowerment

Executives Councils Bureaucracies

Capital Cities are Different

Capital cities are different Seats of political power Symbolic of the nation Security concerns

Federal vs. unitary states Special characteristics of capital city

populations lead to ground swell to democratize and empower local political institutions

Empowerment of Capital City Governments

Empowerment of municipal political institutions Elected capital city mayors

Capital city mayor becomes a broker of interest groups that reside in the capital city

Capital city mayor often second most important elected official in nation

Increased powers to city councils in order to check empowered mayors

Security Concerns

Mayor given control of traffic police States and/or regions get their own police

forces Concern for security of national government

reflected in decision to allow presidents to retain control over the most important capital city police forces

Urban Built Environments: Colonial Cores

Where things happened in colonial epoch

Deterioration during the

nineteenth century

Urban Built Environments of Capital Cities: first 150 years

Reconstruction/Modernization (1890-1960) Buenos Aires – (1910-1930) Mexico City & Mayor Ernesto Uruchurtu Caracas after the death of Gómez Guatemala: Liberation Avenue

Buenos Aires: First World City ?

Buenos Aires: Shantytowns like other cities of Latin America

Urban Built Environments of Capital Cities: Bureaucratic

Authoritarianism

Governments of “Second Reverse Wave” emphasize industrial infrastructure Pollution On the periphery or in new

industrial cities

Urban Built Environment in Capital Cities: Third Wave Democracy

Items emphasized have not lent themselves to physical expression Rule of law Equality Human rights

Public services possible exception Health Education

Built Environments of Capital Cities since 1950’s

Previously: capital cities were unlike all other locations Projected high style Represented aspirations that encoded cultural

values and aspirations through repertories of culture-specific elements.

Capability to communicate high level meaning declined after 1960

Physical aspects of morphology became less pronounced in 1980’s

Special functions of capital cities endure.