Modernizar y democratizar la Administración Pública. Una mirada desde la realidad latinoamericana

This article intends to debate the pertinence of the current reform models for public administrations in the Latin American context. The first part revises three approaches to the modernization of public administrations, and makes clear not only their proposals, but also their theoretical roots and limitations, both theoretical and empirical. The second part focuses on the challenges and the realities of Latin America. Recognizing the diversity of the region, it exposes the common weaknesses of its bureaucracies. We propose to take back in the political dimension of administrative reform and its necessary insertion in the debate about State and citizenship. It finishes calling for a refection that goes beyond the uncritical copy of modernization tools developed in other regions, and instead put the techniques second to the ends and the demands of the pressing challenges of the Latin-American public administration.