Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-11T00:24:45.017Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Agency Loss and the Strategic Redesign of the Presidential Office in Colombia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2018

Luis Bernardo Mejía-Guinand ,
Felipe Botero  and
Angélica Solano
Luis Bernardo Mejía-Guinand*
Affiliation:
Associate professor of political science at the Universidad de los Andes.
Felipe Botero*
Affiliation:
Associate professor of political science at the Universidad de los Andes.
Angélica Solano*
Affiliation:
Master’s degree candidate in economics at the Universidad de los Andes.
*
luimejia@uniandes.edu.co
fbotero@uniandes.edu.co
am.solano10@uniandes.edu.co
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Presidents rely on their trusted advisers to collect, analyze, coordinate, and present information in a timely fashion. However, Latin American presidents often fail to form majority governments and must use cabinet appointments to secure legislative coalitions to pursue their policies. This article suggests that presidents strategically redesign their executive offices to address the ministry drift. Presidents who can transform the organizations attached to their executive office have additional tools to monitor their ministers’ flexibility. The article argues that the greater the number of ministers in the cabinet from parties different from the president’s, the greater the transformations to the presidential office. Using time-series analysis, hypotheses are tested with an original dataset of organizational changes to the presidential center in Colombia, 1967–2015. The findings indicate that the percentage of ministers from other parties is a good predictor of the transformations undertaken in the executive office of the president.

Keywords

presidential centerinformation asymmetriesagency lossorganizational strategic redesignColombia
Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Politics and Society , Volume 60 , Issue 3 , August 2018 , pp. 96 - 118
Copyright
© 2018 University of Miami 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alcántara, Manuel. 2012. Elections in Latin America 2009–2011: A Comparative Analysis. Working Paper 386. Notre Dame: Kellogg Institute for International Studies.Google Scholar
Alemán, Eduardo, and Tsebelis, George. 2011. Political Parties and Government Coalitions in the Americas. Journal of Politics in Latin America 3, 1: 3–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alessandro, Martin, Lafuente, Mariano, and Santiso, Carlos. 2013. Strengthening the Center of Government in Latin America and the Caribbean. Technical note IDB-TN-591. Washington, DC: Inter-American Development Bank.Google Scholar
Alessandro, Martin, Lafuente, Mariano, and Santiso, Carlos. 2014. Gobernar para cumplir con los ciudadanos. El rol del centro de gobierno en America Latina y el Caribe. IDB-MG-224. Washington, DC: Inter-American Development Bank.Google Scholar
Alston, Lee, and Mueller, Bernardo. 2006. Pork for Policy: Executive and Legislative Exchange in Brazil. Journal of Law Economics and Organization 22, 1: 87–114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Amorim Neto, Octavio. 1998. Cabinet Formation in Presidential Regimes: An Analysis of 10 Latin American Countries. Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Universitário de Pesquisas do Rio de Janeiro (IUPERJ).Google Scholar
Amorim Neto, Octavio. 2006. The Presidential Calculus: Executive Policymaking and Cabinet Formation in the Americas. Comparative Political Studies 39: 415–440.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arana Araya, Ignacio. 2012. ¿Quién le susurra al presidente? Asesores vs. ministros en América Latina. Revista de Ciencia Política 50, 2: 36–61.Google Scholar
Ardanaz, Martín, Scartascini, Carlos, and Tommasi, Mario. 2011. Political Institutions, Policymaking, and Economic Policy in Latin America. In The Oxford Handbook of Latin American Economics, ed. José Antonio Ocampo and Jaime Ros. Oxford: Oxford University Press. www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199571048.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199571048-e-3. Accessed February 6, 2018.Google Scholar
Batista, Mariana. 2013. O poder no executivo: uma análise do papel da presidência e dos ministérios no presidencialismo de coalizão brasileiro (1995–2010). Opinião Pública 19, 2: 449–473.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Batista, Mariana. 2014. Presidentialism and Coalition Governments: On the Influence of Cabinet Ministers in the Decisionmaking Process. Unpublished mss. Universidade Federal de Pernambuco.Google Scholar
Bonvecchi, Alejandro, and Scartascini, Carlos. 2014. The Organization of the Executive Branch in Latin America: What We Know and What We Need to Know. Latin American Politics and Society 56, 1: 144–165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burke, John. 2000. The Institutional Presidency: Organizing and Managing the White House from FDR to Clinton. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cárdenas, Mauricio, Junguito, Roberto, and Pachón, Mónica. 2008. Political Institutions and Policy Outcomes in Colombia: The Effects of the 1991 Constitution. In Policymaking in Latin America: How Politics Shapes Policies, ed. Ernesto Stein and Mariano Tommasi. Washington, DC: Inter-American Development Bank. 199–242.Google Scholar
Carey, John. 2007. Competing Principals, Political Institutions, and Party Unity in Legislative Voting. American Journal of Political Science 51, 1: 92–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carey, John, and Shugart, Matthew Soberg, eds. 1998. Executive Decree Authority. New York: Cambridge Univsersity Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carroll, Royce, and Pachón, Mónica. 2016. The Unrealized Potential of Presidential Coalitions in Colombia. In Legislative Institutions and Lawmaking in Latin America, ed. Eduardo Alemán and George Tsebelis. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 122–147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chasquetti, Daniel. 2001. Democracia, multipartidismo y coaliciones en América Latina: evaluando la difícil combinación. In Tipos de presidencialismo y coaliciones políticas en América Latina, ed. Jorge Lanzaro. Buenos Aires: CLACSO. 319–359.Google Scholar
ChasquettiDaniel, Daniel Buquet Daniel, Daniel Buquet, and Cardarello, Antonio. 2013. La designación de gabinetes en Uruguay: estrategia legislativa, jerarquía de los ministerios y afiliación partidaria de los ministros. América Latina Hoy 64: 15–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deheza, Grace Ivana. 1998. Gobiernos de coalición en el sistema presidencial: América del Sur. In El presidencialismo renovado: instituciones y cambio político en américa latina, ed. Dieter Nohlen and Mario Fernández B. Caracas: Nueva Sociedad. 151–169.Google Scholar
Epstein, David, and O’Halloran, Sharyn. 1999. Delegating Powers: A Transaction Cost Politics Approach to Policy Making under Separate Powers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Figueiredo, Argelina, and Limongi, Fernando. 2008. Política orçamentária no presidencialismo de coalizão. Rio de Janeiro: Fundação Getúlio Vargas.Google Scholar
Fiorina, Morris. 1982. Legislative Choice of Regulatory Forms: Legal Process or Administrative Process? Public Choice 39, 1: 33–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geddes, Barbara. 1994. Politician’s Dilemma: Building State Capacity in Latin America. Berkeley: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gujarati, Damodar. 2004. Basic Econometrics. West Point: United States Military Academy.Google Scholar
Hartlyn, Jonathan. 1988. The Politics of Coalition Rule in Colombia. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Horn, Murray J. 1995. The Political Economy of Public Administration. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huber, John, and Shipan, Charles R.. 2002. Deliberate Discretion? The Institutional Foundations of Bureaucratic Autonomy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inácio, Magna, and Llanos, Mariana. 2015. The Institutional Presidency from a Comparative Perspective: Argentina and Brazil Since the 1980s. Brazilian Political Science Review 9, 1: 39–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, David. 2003. Presidents and the Politics of Agency Design. Stanford: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Mainwaring, Scott, and Shugart, Matthew Soberg, eds. 1997. Presidentialism and Democracy in Latin America. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martínez-Gallardo, Cecilia. 2014. Designing Cabinets: Presidential Politics and Ministerial Instability. Journal of Politics in Latin America 6, 2: 3–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martínez-Gallardo, Cecilia, and Schleiter, Petra. 2015. Choosing Whom to Trust: Agency Risks and Cabinet Partisanship in Presidential Democracies. Comparative Political Studies 48, 2: 231–264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCubbins, Mathew. 1999. Abdication or Delegation? Congress, the Bureaucracy, and the Delegation Dilemma. Regulation 22, 2: 30–37.Google Scholar
McCubbins, Mathew, Noll, Roger, and Weingast, Barry. 1987. Structure and Process, Politics and Policy: Administrative Arrangements and the Political Control of the Agencies. Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization 3, 2: 243–277.Google Scholar
Mejía-Guinand, Luis Bernardo. 2014. The Changing Role of the Central Planning Offices in Latin America: A Comparative Historical Analysis Perspective. Maastricht: Boekenplan.Google Scholar
Mejía-Guinand, Luis Bernardo. 2016. The Changing Role of the Central Planning Offices in Latin America. Public Organization Review 16, 4: 477–491.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mejía-Guinand, Luis Bernardo, and Botero, Felipe. 2018. Bait and Switch? Cabinet Ministers in Colombia (1958–2014). In Government Formation and Minister Turnover in Presidential Cabinets: Comparative Analysis in the Americas, ed. Marcelo Camerlo and Cecilia Martínez-Gallardo. London: Routledge. 139–158.Google Scholar
Mejía-Guinand, Luis Bernardo, and Botero, Felipe. 2018. Del escribiente al superministro consejero. Evolución de la Casa de Nariño como organización. In El centro presidencial en América Latina, Estados Unidos y España, ed. Jorge Lanzaro. Madrid: Tecnos.Google Scholar
Méndez, José Luis. 2007. La oficina presidencial y el liderazgo político en México y Estados Unidos: ¿incertidumbre competitiva o certidumbre cooperativa? Foro Internacional 47, 4: 839–867.Google Scholar
Moe, Terry M. 1989. The Politics of Bureaucratic Structure. In Can the Government Govern? ed. John E. Chubb and Paul E. Peterson. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press. 267–329.Google Scholar
Moe, Terry M. 1990a. Political Institutions: The Neglected Side of the Story. Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization 6, special issue: 213–253.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moe, Terry M. 1990b. The Politics of Structural Choice: Toward a Theory of Public Bureaucracy. In Organization Theory: From Chester Bernard to the Present and Beyond, ed. Oliver Williamson. New York: Oxford University Press. 116–153.Google Scholar
Moe, Terry, and Wilson, Scott A.. 1994. Presidents and the Politics of Structure. Law and Contemporary Problems 57, 2: 1–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morgenstern, Scott, and Nacif, Benito, eds. 2002. Legislative Politics in Latin America. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neustadt, Richard E. 1990. Presidential Power and the Modern Presidents: The Politics of Leadership from Roosevelt to Reagan. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Pachón, Mónica, and Johnson, Gregg B.. 2016. When’s the Party (or Coalition)? Agenda-Setting in a Highly Fragmented, Decentralized Legislature. Journal of Politics in Latin America 8, 2: 71–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pereira, Carlos, and Mueller, Bernardo. 2004. The Cost of Governing: Strategic Behavior of the President and Legislators in Brazil’s Budgetary Process. Comparative Political Studies 20, 1: 1–32.Google Scholar
Pereira, Carlos, and Rennó, Lucio. 2003. Successful Re-election Strategies in Brazil: The Electoral Impact of Distinct Institutional Incentives. Electoral Studies 22, 3: 425–448.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pereira, Carlos, Batista, Mariana, Praça, Sérgio, and Lopez, Felix. 2017. Watchdogs in Our Midst: How Presidents Monitor Coalitions in Brazil’s Multiparty Presidential Regime. Latin American Politics and Society 59, 3: 27–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polga-Hecimovich, John, and Trelles, Alejandro. 2016. The Organizational Consequences of Politics: A Research Agenda for the Study of Bureaucratic Politics in Latin America. Latin American Politics and Society 58, 4: 56–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ragsdale, Lyn, and Theis, John J. III. 1997. The Institutionalization of the American Presidency, 1924–92. American Journal of Political Science 41, 4: 1280–1318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raile, Eric, Pereira, Carlos, and Power, Timothy. 2011. The Executive Toolbox: Building Legislative Support in a Multiparty Presidential Regime. Political Research Quarterly 64, 2: 323–334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodríguez Raga, Juan Carlos, and Botero, Felipe. 2006. Ordenando el caos: elecciones legislativas y reforma electoral en Colombia. Revista de Ciencia Política 26, 1: 138–151.Google Scholar
Samuels, David, and Shugart, Matthew Soberg. 2010. Presidents, Parties, Prime Ministers: How the Separation of Powers Affects Party Organization and Behavior. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shugart, Matthew Soberg, and Carey, John. 1992. Presidents and Assemblies: Constitutional Design and Electoral Dynamics. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Siavelis, Peter. 2012. El poder ejecutivo y la presidencia en Chile: organización formal e informal. In Presidencialismo y parlamentarismo: América Latina y Europa meridional, ed. Jorge Lanzaro. Madrid: Centro de Estudios Políticos y Constitucionales. 133–164.Google Scholar
Siavelis, Peter. 2013. El éxito del presidencialismo en Chile: gabinetes, asesores y demás. In La dinámica del poder ejecutivo en América. Estudios comparados sobre la institución presidencial, ed. Martín Alessandro and Andrés Gilio. Buenos Aires: Instituto Nacional de la Administración Pública (INAP). 269–297.Google Scholar
Su, Yen-Pin. 2014. Explaining Electoral Volatility in Latin America: Evidence at the Party Level. Latin American Politics and Society 56, 2: 49–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vélez Vieira, Cristina. 2009. El “kínder” anticíclico: Mateo Restrepo y Esteban Piedrahíta. La Silla Vacía, June 8. http://lasillavacia.com/historia/2336. Accessed May 12, 2016.Google Scholar
W Radio Colombia. 2015. Rodrigo Lara defiende propaganda de Cambio Radical en la que aparecen ministros. September 1. http://www.wradio.com.co/noticias/actualidad/8203rodrigo-lara-defiende-propaganda-de-cambio-radical-en-la-que-aparecen-ministros/20150901/nota/2914935.aspx. Accessed June 13, 2016.Google Scholar
Weingast, Barry R., Shepsle, Kenneth A., and Johnsen, Christopher. 1981. The Political Economy of Benefits and Costs: A Neoclassical Approach to Distributive Politics. Journal of Political Economy 89: 642–664.CrossRefGoogle Scholar