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Continuity by Surprise: Explaining Institutional Stability in Contemporary Peru

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2022

Alberto Vergara  and
Daniel Encinas
Alberto Vergara
Affiliation:
Harvard University
Daniel Encinas
Affiliation:
Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú
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Abstract

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In the first decade of the twenty-first century, Latin America experienced a so-called left turn that sought either to reform or eliminate the neoliberal institutions established during the 1980s and 1990s. However, although Peru has electoral, economic, and social processes similar to those of its neighbors, the neoliberal institutions established in Peru by the 1993 Constitution remain firmly in place. This article aims to understand the mechanisms sustaining Peru's neoliberal regime since its creation. Why have these institutions survived and grown in strength in a regional environment that has been hostile to neoliberal legacies? The article answers that question, emphasizing the evolution of the balance of power between the precarious Peruvian political class and the empowered technocrats and bureaucrats within the state. The reformist politicians are too weak and amateurish to challenge the technobureaucrats within the state. Moreover, the article analyzes the different strategies deployed by technocrats and bureaucrats in order to ensure the continuity and stability of the neoliberal regime and its policies. Theoretically, the article suggests that institutional stability can arise from a daily process gradually shaped by actors and their strategies.

Resumo

Resumo

Durante la década del 2000, América Latina pasó por el denominado “giro a la izquierda” que buscaba reformar o eliminar las instituciones neoliberales establecidas durante las décadas de 1980 y 1990. Sin embargo, a pesar de experimentar procesos sociales, económicos y electorales similares a sus vecinos, en el Perú las instituciones neoliberales surgidas con la Constitución de 1993 se mantienen firmes. El artículo busca entender los mecanismos que brindan continuidad y estabilidad al régimen neoliberal desde su creación en el Perú. ¿Por qué han sobrevivido y obtenido estabilidad estas instituciones en un contexto regional que ha sido, más bien, hostil a los legados neoliberales? El artículo responde a esta pregunta enfatizando, de un lado, la evolución del balance de poder entre la precaria clase política peruana y la fortalecida capa de tecnócratas y burócratas en el Estado. Los políticos reformistas son débiles e inexpertos y no consiguen desafiar a los fortalecidos cuadros técnico-burocráticos al interior del Estado. Asimismo, se analiza las diferentes estrategias puestas en práctica por tecnócratas y burócratas para asegurar la continuidad y estabilidad de las instituciones y políticas neoliberales. En el plano teórico se sugiere que la estabilidad institucional puede surgir de un proceso cotidiano y construido progresivamente por los actores y sus estrategias.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Research Review , Volume 51 , Issue 1 , 2016 , pp. 159 - 180
Copyright
Copyright © 2016 by the Latin American Studies Association

Footnotes

For their helpful comments at different moments in this research we want to thank Steven Levitsky, Jorge Domínguez, Frances Hagopian, Kurt Weyland, Eduardo Dargent, Hillel Soifer, Juan Pablo Luna, Richard Snyder, and Marylia Cruz. Any inaccuracies remain our sole responsibility. This article was accepted for publication on March 20, 2014.

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