LOCAL EXECUTIVE POWER IN LATIN AMERICAN CAPITAL CITIES SINCE 1945

1. LOCAL EXECUTIVE POWER IN LATIN AMERICAN CAPITAL CITIES SINCE 1945 Waves of democracy & Import Substitution Industrialization

2. First Wave of Democracy • First Wave 1776-1920 • Impact of United States Revolution • World War I “Make the World Safe for Democracy” • First Reverse Wave • Economic difficulties in 1920’s • Triumph of Nazism in 1930’s

3. Second Wave of Democracy • Second “Short” Wave 1944-1960’s • Victory by democrats in WW II • Dispersion of benefits of industrial revolution to Latin America • Second Reverse Wave 1960’s to early 1980’s • Again, economic dimension critical • Middle class fears of the poor • Military had major role • Bureaucracies used to impose “order”

4. Import Substitution Industrialization (ISI) • ISI begins in the Great Depression • Economic downturn in industrial world provokes economic disaster in Latin America • Latin American elites attempt to regain control over economic destiny • Domestic subsidization of public sector industries • Post World War II Period • ECLA becomes most influential of the UN’s regional economic commissions • ECLA gains acceptance of ISI at Breton Woods Conference

5. Municipal Government in Second Wave Democracy • Municipal services become more important because of ISI • Lack of administrative talent at the local level leads national political leaders to exempt municipal government from efforts to democratize • Fears for the security of the political regime leads national leaders to keep tight control over the capital cities

6. Municipal Government in the Second Reverse Wave of Authoritarianism • Municipal governments treated as administrative subdivisions of national executive • Bureaucratic authoritarian governments are negative toward large new investments in urban infrastructure • Local autonomy of municipal governments increased in matters of policy implementation

7. Third Wave of Democratization(1980’s – Present) • World-wide recession discredits bureaucratic authoritarian political regimes • Human rights violations frightens many in those groups that initially favored developmentalist dictatorships • Growing global consensus for democracy

8. Empowerment of Municipal Governments: Third Wave Democracy • Discrediting of ISI removes important reason for subordination of municipal governments • Human Rights Violations in Bureaucratic Authoritarianism increase willingness to restrict power of central government • Pool of trained professionals increases • Local Empowerment • Executives • Councils • Bureaucracies

9. Capital Cities are Different • Capital cities are different • Seats of political power • Symbolic of the nation • Security concerns • Federal vs. unitary states • Special characteristics of capital city populations lead to ground swell to democratize and empower local political institutions

10. Empowerment of Capital City Governments • Empowerment of municipal political institutions • Elected capital city mayors • Capital city mayor becomes a broker of interest groups that reside in the capital city • Capital city mayor often second most important elected official in nation • Increased powers to city councils in order to check empowered mayors

11. Security Concerns • Mayor given control of traffic police • States and/or regions get their own police forces • Concern for security of national government reflected in decision to allow presidents to retain control over the most important capital city police forces

12. Urban Built Environments: Colonial Cores • Where things happened in colonial epoch • Deterioration during the nineteenth century

13. Urban Built Environments of Capital Cities: first 150 years • Reconstruction/Modernization (1890-1960) • Buenos Aires – (1910-1930) • Mexico City & Mayor Ernesto Uruchurtu • Caracas after the death of Gómez • Guatemala: Liberation Avenue

14. Buenos Aires: First World City ?

15. Buenos Aires: Shantytowns like other cities of Latin America

16. Urban Built Environments of Capital Cities: Bureaucratic Authoritarianism • Governments of “Second Reverse Wave” emphasize industrial infrastructure • Pollution • On the periphery or in new industrial cities

17. Urban Built Environment in Capital Cities: Third Wave Democracy • Items emphasized have not lent themselves to physical expression • Rule of law • Equality • Human rights • Public services possible exception • Health • Education

18. Built Environments of Capital Cities since 1950’s Previously: capital cities were unlike all other locations • Projected high style • Represented aspirations that encoded cultural values and aspirations through repertories of culture-specific elements. • Capability to communicate high level meaning declined after 1960 • Physical aspects of morphology became less pronounced in 1980’s • Special functions of capital cities endure.