Colombia: The Politics of Reforming the State

301 Pages·1998·78.605 MB·English

by  Eduardo Posada-Carbó (eds.)

COLOMBIA: THE POLITICS OF
REFORMING THE STATE
INSTITUTE OF LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES SERIES
General Editor: Victor Bulmer-Thomas, Professor of Economics and
Director, Institute of Latin American Studies, University of London
The Institute of Latin American Studies, a member of the School of
Advanced Study of the University of London, was founded in 1965. The
Institute is dedicated to research on Latin America in the social sciences
and humanities. The purpose of this series is to disseminate to a wide
audience the new work based on the research programmes and projects
organised by academic staff and Associate Fellows of the Institute of
Latin American Studies.
Victor Bulmer-Thomas (editor)
THE NEW ECONOMIC MODEL IN LATIN AMERICA AND ITS
IMPACT ON INCOME DISTRIBUTION AND POVERTY
Victor Bulmer-Thomas, Nikki Craske and Monica Serrano (editors)
MEXICO AND THE NORTH AMERICAN FREE TRADE
AGREEMENT: WHO WILL BENEFIT?
Elizabeth Joyce and Carlos Malamud (editors)
LATIN AMERICA AND THE MULTINATIONAL DRUG TRADE
Walter Little and Eduardo Posada-CarbO (editors)
POLITICAL CORRUPTION IN EUROPE AND LATIN AMERICA
Eduardo Posada-Carbo (editor)
COLOMBIA: THE POLITICS OF REFORMING THE STATE
ELECTIONS BEFORE DEMOCRACY: THE HISTORY OF
ELECTIONS IN EUROPE AND LATIN AMERICA
Rachel Sieder (editor)
CENTRAL AMERICA: FRAGILE TRANSITION
John Weeks (editor)
STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT AND THE AGRICULTURAL
SECTOR IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
Colombia
The Politics of Reforming the State
Edited by
Eduardo Posada-Carb6
Senior Lecturer in Latin American History
Institute of Latin American Studies
University of London
~ in association with
~ PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
First published in Great Britain 1998 by
MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London
Companies and representatives throughout the world
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-349-26052-2 ISBN 978-1-349-26050-8 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-26050-8
First published in the United States of America 1998 by
ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC.,
Scholarly and Reference Division,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010
ISBN 978-0-312-17618-1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Colombia: the politics of reforming the state / edited by Eduardo
Posada-Carbo.
p. cm. - (Institute of Latin American Studies series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-312-17618-1
I. Colombia-Politics and govemment-1974-- I. Posada Carbo,
Eduardo. II. Series.
JL2831.C664 1997
320.9861 '09'045-dc2 I 97-19441
CIP
© Institute of Latin American Studies 1998
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition 1998
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made
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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 99
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements vii
List of Contributors viii
List of Figures x
List of Tables xi
Prologue Belisario Betancur xiii
Introduction Reflections on the Colombian State: In Search of a
Modern Role
Eduardo Posada-Carb6 1
Part I: THE COLOMBIAN STATE: HISTORY, PARTIES AND
CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM 19
Chapter I Colombian Experience with Liberalism:
On the Historical Weakness of the State
Marco Palacios 21
Chapter 2 The State and Political Parties in Colombia
Gary Hoskin 45
Chapter 3 Democracy, State and Society in the t 99 t
Constitution: The Role of the Constitutional Court
Manuel Jose Cepeda 71
Chapter 4 The Decentralised State: An Administrative or
Political Challenge?
Gustavo Bell Lemus 97
Part II: THE STATE AND SOCIETY 109
Chapter 5 Violence and the State in Colombia
Alvaro Tirado Mejia 111
Chapter 6 State Weakness and Clientelism in
Colombian Education
Jesus Duarte 125
Chapter 7 Colombian Housing Policy during the 1990s
Alan Gilbert 155
v
Part III: THE STATE AND THE ECONOMIC APERTURA 185
Chapter 8 The Colombian Apertura: An Assessment
Jorge Ramirez Ocampo 187
Chapter 9 Regulation and Deregulation: The Process
of Reform in Colombia, 1990-94
Armando Montenegro 207
Chapter 10 Evolution and Rationality of Budget Institutions
in Colombia
Rudolf Hommes 233
Bibliography 263
Index 277
vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book is the first of a series of publications resulting from the Co
lombia Programme that the Institute of Latin American Studies
launched in 1995. The chapters in this volume were first discussed dur
ing the conference 'The Colombian Process of Reform: A New Role for
the State?', which took place in London on 24-25 April 1995.
I would like to thank the following institutions for the support given to
this event: the Banco de la Republica, the Baring Foundation, the Brit
ish Council, British Petroleum, Canning House, the Colombian
Embassy in London, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Thanks to the support of the Isobel Thornley Bequest Fund we were
able to translate one of the chapters of the book.
Finally, I would also like to acknowledge the editorial support given by
Victor Bulmer-Thomas, Tony Bell, and Penny and Peter Simmons in the
preparation of the final text.
Eduardo Posada-Carbo
ILAS, London.
vii
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
Gustavo Bell Lemus was the first popularly elected Governor of the Depart
ment of Atl!'mtico (1990-1993). He is the author of Cartagena de lndias: de la
Colonia a la Republica (1991). He is currently completing his DPhii at St
Antony's College, Oxford.
Belisario Betancur was President of the Republic of Colombia between 1982
and 1986. Before being elected President he had a long and distinguished pub
lic career. He is the author of many books and essays. He is currently the
Director of Fundaci6n Santillana para la America Latina.
Manuel Jose Cepeda was adviser to President Cesar Gaviria on constitutional
affairs. He was Ambassador to Switzerland and the United Kingdom, and to
Unesco in Paris; he is currently the Dean of the Law Faculty at the
Universidad de los Andes. He has published extensively on Colombian con
stitutional law, including Los derechos /undamentales de la Constitucion de
1991 (1992), and 1ntroduccion a la Constitucion de 1991, hacia un nuevo
constitucionalismo (1993).
Jesus Duarte completed his DPhii at St Antony's College, Oxford with a the
sis on education and clientelism in Colombia. He is the author of various
essays on Colombian education, including a chapter in M. Deas and C. Ossa
(eds.), EI gobierno Barco. Politica, economia y desarrollo social, 1986-1990
(1994). He is currently an officer at the Departamento Nacional de Planeaci6n.
Alan Gilbert is Professor of Geography at University College London. He has
published extensively on Latin American urban problems, including The Latin
American City (1994), In Search o/a Home (1993) and, with P. M. Ward,
Housing, the State and the Poor: Policy in Three Latin American Cities
( 1985).
Rudolf Hommes was Minister of Finance during the whole period of Cesar
Gaviria's administration. As a co-founder of the journal Estrategia, he led a
group of economists who became instrumental in the process of reform in Co
lombia. After the ministry he joined the Inter-American Development Bank.
He is currently the Rector of the Universidad de los Andes in Bogota. He is the
author of various essays on the Colombian economy.
Gary Hoskin is Professor of Political Science at the State University of New
York (SUNY) in Buffalo, USA. He has published extensively on Colombian
party politics, including essays in M. Deas and C. Ossa (eds.), EI gobierno
Barco (1994) and F. Leal Buitrago and L. Zamosc (eds.), Alfilo del caos
(1995). He is the co-editor of EI Congreso colombiano (1974).
viii
Armando Montenegro was Director of the Departamento Nacional de
Planeaci6n during the whole period of Cesar Gaviria's administration. He had
previously advised the government on coffee affairs and on the monetary
board. He is currently President of the Asociaci6n Nacional de Instituciones
Financieras, ANIF. He is the author of various essays on a wide range of Co
lombian subjects, and the co-editor of Cusiana. Un reto de politica economica
(1994).
Marco Palacios is Professor of History at the Colegio de Mexico. He was Rec
tor of the Universidad Nacional and Director of the Instituto Colombiano para
la Educaci6n Superior (lCFES). He has published extensively on Colombian
history and politics, including EI Cafe en Colombia (1978) and Entre la
legitimidady la violencia: Colombia. 1875-1992 (1995).
Eduardo Posada-Carbo is Lecturer in History at the Institute of Latin Ameri
can Studies, London University. He is the author of The Colombian
Caribbean: A Regional History. 1870-1950 (1996) and editor of Elections Be
fore Democracy. The History of Elections in Europe and Latin America
(1996). With Walter Little he is co-editor of Political Corruption in Europe
and Latin America (1996).
Jorge Ramirez Ocampo was Minister of Development during the administra
tion of Alfonso L6pez Michelsen. He is currently President ofthe Asociaci6n
Nacional de Exportadores, Analdex. He is the editor of Una aproximacion al
futuro: Colombia, siglo XXI (1991).
Alvaro Tirado Mejia is Professor at the Instituto de Estudios Internacionales in
the Universidad Nacional, Bogota. He has been Ambassador to Switzerland
and Presidential Peace Adviser. He is currently the President of the Commis
sion for Human Rights at the Organisation of American States. His many
books on Colombian history and politics include, Aspectos pollticos del
primer gobierno de Alfonso Lopez Pumarejo, 1934-38 (1981) and Hacia una
concepcion global de los derechos humanos (1990). He is the general editor of
Nueva Historia de Colombia (1989), 8 vols.
ix