Technocracy and Democracy in Latin America
The Experts Running Government

Examines the source of technocrats' power as well as the leverage they have across state policy sectors in Latin America.

Eduardo Dargent (Author)

9781107059870, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 10 November 2014

216 pages, 10 b/w illus. 10 tables
23.5 x 15.7 x 1.8 cm, 0.5 kg

'Eduardo Dargent breaks with the dominant idea that technocrats are almost entirely subordinated to their political masters … a theoretically sophisticated and extremely well-documented work.' Patricio Silva, Universiteit Leiden

Praised by some as islands of efficiency in a sea of unprofessional, politicized and corrupt states, and criticized by others for removing wide areas of policy making from the democratic arena, technocrats have become prominent and controversial actors in Latin American politics. Nonelected state officials with advanced educations from top universities, technocrats achieve considerable autonomy from political and economic actors and exert great influence over their countries' fates. This finding poses an intriguing paradox. These experts lack an independent base of authority, such as popular election, and the tenure enjoyed by professional bureaucrats. What, then, explains the power of technocrats in democratic Latin America? Why do they enjoy and maintain greater policy influence in some areas than in others? Through analysis of economic and health policy in Colombia from 1958 to 2011 and in Peru from 1980 to 2011, Technocracy and Democracy in Latin America answers these and other questions about experts in Latin America.

1. Introduction: technocracy under democracy
2. Technocrats in Latin American democracies: agents or actors?
3. A theory of technocratic autonomy
4. Economic technocrats in Colombia (1958–2011)
5. Economic technocrats in Peru (1980–3
1990–2011)
6. Health technocrats in Colombia (1966–70
1993–2013)
7. Health technocrats in Peru (1990–2002)
8. Conclusion: technocratic autonomy, its limits, and democracy in Latin America.

Subject Areas: Public administration [JPP], Comparative politics [JPB]