%0 Journal Article
%T Considering Local Democratic Transition in Latin America Considerando la transici車n democr芍tica local en Am谷rica Latina
%A Gary Bland
%J Journal of Politics in Latin America
%D 2011
%I German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA)
%X Drawing from well-known theories of democracy and democratic transition, this essay considers the transition to local democracy in Latin America. It raises a central question: Given the landmark decentralization of the past three decades, what constitutes local democracy in the region today and in which countries can we say it exists? Core considerations in comparing local democracy and national democracy are discussed. I present the concept of ※minimum decentralization§ and, using this framework, posit six procedural and institutional conditions for defining local democracy. Eighteen systems are evaluated against these conditions at the municipal and intermediate levels of government. Despite the real transfer of authority in many countries, and though several Latin American countries have established or nearly established local democracies, only a few of the local systems can be considered democratic. Though the conclusion is somewhat counter-intuitive, explanations for the slow development of decentralization and local democracy are considered. Partiendo de teor赤as ampliamente conocidas sobre la democracia y la transici車n democr芍tica, este ensayo analiza la transici車n a la democracia local en Am谷rica Latina, y plantea una cuesti車n central: Dada la importancia de la descentralizaci車n en las tres 迆ltimas d谷cadas,  qu谷 es realmente la democracia local en la regi車n hoy en d赤a, y en qu谷 pa赤ses podemos decir que existe? A partir de la comparaci車n entre la democracia local y la democracia nacional se discuten cuestiones clave. Introduzco el concepto de ※descentralizaci車n m赤nima§ y planteo seis condiciones de procedimiento e institucionales que definen la democracia local. En ese marco conceptual se eval迆an dieciocho sistemas nacionales en los niveles locales e intermedios de gobierno. A pesar de que en muchos pa赤ses se ha producido una real transferencia de autoridad, y aunque algunos pa赤ses latinoamericanos han establecido o casi establecido democracias locales, s車lo algunos de los sistemas locales pueden considerarse efectivamente democr芍ticos. Si bien la conclusi車n es de alguna manera contraria a lo esperado, se discuten diversas explicaciones sobre el lento desarrollo de la descentralizaci車n y la democracia local.
%K Comparative Politics
%K democracy
%K decentralization
%K Latin America
%K local democracy
%K decentralization
%K sub-national politics
%K federalism
%K democratic transition
%K 320
%K 322
%K 324
%K Latin America
%K 1980-2011
%K ciencia pol赤tica
%K Am谷rica Latina
%K democracia local
%K descentralizaci車n
%K pol赤tica subnacional
%K federalismo
%K transici車n democr芍tica
%K Am谷rica Latina
%K 1980-2011
%U http://hup.sub.uni-hamburg.de/giga/jpla/article/view/399