The Left in Power: State officials’ perspectives on the challenges to progressive governance in Bolivia (original) (raw)
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The political economy of Bolivia's post-neoliberalism: Policies, elites, and the MAS government
European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies , 2019
With the ebbing of the pink tide, the MAS government in Bolivia remains as one of the most successful leftist governments that had been elected throughout Latin America since the late 1990s. In order to better understand this surprising success story, this paper analyses the political economy of the post-neoliberal model that has taken shape under MAS rule. More specifically, it looks at the interaction between the strategic orientation and the specific features of economic policy-making in Bolivia, on the one hand, and the evolving relationship of the MAS government with the country's economic elites, on the other. The paper argues that Bolivia's specific version of post-neoliberalism has facilitated increasingly cooperative relations between the government and economic elites, while the latter have themselves contributed to the consolidation of the former. At the same time, the analysis of the political economy of Bolivian post-neoliberalism also reveals its inherent fragility. Resumen: La economía política del postneoliberalismo boliviano: Política y elites Con el flujo de la marea rosa, el gobierno del MAS en Bolivia sigue siendo uno de los go-biernos izquierdistas elegidos más exitosos de toda América Latina desde finales de los años noventa. Para comprender mejor esta sorprendente historia de éxito, este artículo analiza la economía política del modelo post-neoliberal que ha tomado forma bajo el gobierno del MAS. Más específicamente, analiza la interacción entre la orientación estratégica y las ca-racterísticas específicas de la formulación de políticas económicas en Bolivia, por un lado, y la relación en evolución del gobierno del MAS con las élites económicas del país, por otro. Se argumenta que la versión específica del post-neoliberalismo de Bolivia ha facilitado rela-ciones cada vez más cooperativas entre el gobierno y las élites económicas, quienes han contribuido a la consolidación de las primeras. Al mismo tiempo, el análisis de la economía política del posneoliberalismo boliviano también revela su fragilidad inherente.
Bolivia’s National Development Plan is the most detailed official document on the objectives of Evo Morales’s administration and therefore an important reference point for the evaluation of the intentions, difficulties, and approaches of his political project. Analysis of the plan reveals bold objectives such as transforming the nation’s structure of development and making the country the energy center of the continent and more modest goals of reducing poverty and social inequality. The greatest advance in the first four years of the Morales administration is regaining state control of the economy; Bolivia has effectively changed its economic model from a predominantly free-market one to a mixed model in which state management of the basic sectors of the economy predominates. Changing the structure of development has taken second place to these changes, but the government has acted to promote the needed diversification by encouraging environmental protection, guaranteeing workers’ rights, and providing improved access to credit. The implementation of some of the plan’s main features has been delayed by political opposition from the eastern part of the country, but with a congressional majority for Morales’s party in his second term further advances can be predicted. Given the plan’s limitations and moderation and the problems in its implementation, it is significant that Bolivia has witnessed an impressive increase in the gross domestic product and a decrease in income inequality.
Skills versus Luck: Bolivia and its recent Bonanza
Latin American Economic Review
Governments have the tendency to attribute good outcomes to their policies (skills) and bad ones to negative external shocks outside of their control (luck). That is certainly the case in Bolivia. As in many other dimensions, the economic debate regarding the sources of the economic performance during the (continuing) tenure of President Evo Morales, is polarized. Opponents consider that most (if not all) of the good economic indicators are due to extraordinarily favorable external conditions. 1 Acolytes consider that a major role has to be attributed to the heterodox policies that the government has implemented, and compare favorably recent economic indicators, against the ones of, what they tend to call, the "neoliberal past" (Arce 2016). Economists have long understood that one of the most prevalent and pernicious logical fallacies is to attribute a causal effect to a correlation. 2 Thus, a rigorous effort to ascertain how important were skills (or lack thereof) and luck, requires more than informal comparisons, declarations, and charts. 3 Answering this question is not easy, as an obvious counterfactual is not readily available. That is, ideally, we would like to know how would Bolivia have fared if faced with the same external conditions, but with different internal policies than the ones pursued by
Neostructuralism and Its Class Character in the Political Economy of Bolivia Under Evo Morales
New Political Economy, 2019
As the progressive cycle in Latin America wanes, scholars are attempting to unpick the contradictions that underpinned left-wing regimes. This article seeks to trace the political economy of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) from its neostructural and neoextractivist roots in the 2006 National Development Plan (NDP) through the economic strategy actually implemented by the MAS during its time in government. By examining macroeconomic indicators, the structure of the economy, industrialisation efforts and infrastructural projects this article advances a two-pronged argument. On the one hand, economic policy, as well as industrialisation and infrastructure projects, have focused on maximising economic surplus in the extractive sectors over cultivating the sectors that employ the majority of Bolivians. It has then redistributed part of the rents captured by the state into these labour-intensive sectors. This has consolidated Bolivia's insertion into the global market as a primary commodity producer. On the other hand, the neostructuralist tenets of the NDP have meant that the class character of these policies has been ignored by the government. As the commodities bonanza came to a close in 2013 the government increasingly sided with capital over labour in social struggles over economic development.
Sustained Macroeconomic Reforms, Tepid Growth: A Governance Puzzle in Bolivia?
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000
for valuable inputs and insights. Erin Farnand effectively assisted in processing. This research has also benefited from official World Bank reports on Bolivia. Any errors remain the authors' responsibility, and the views presented here do not necessarily reflect those of the institution or its Executive Directors. 1
Political and Economic Report of Bolivia
The socio-economic and political situation of Bolivia and its recent history are highlighted to analyze its status and prospects as a developing nation. We look at many of the factors that have hindered its progress as a nation, especially as pertaining to Colliers Traps, including instability, geographical issues and natural resources. Finally, recommendations are given for its future progress as a nation. Keywords: Bolivia, Peru, South America, Economics, Equality, Socialism, Capitalism