|  Presidential
Symposium on Politics and Government in Latin America
Thursday,
March 31, 2005
3:00 p.m. - Freeman
Auditorium in the Woldenberg Art Center, followed by a reception in Woodward
Way.
"Democracy
Interrupted: Public (Mis)Trust in the Modern Latin American State"
The
1990s were years of intense economic and political reform in Latin America.
Neoliberal economic restructuring, coupled with a growing process of democratization,
resulted in an interesting realignment of state-society relations in the
region. The process of market liberalization, with its painful economic
and social side effects, strained society’s credibility in the state’s
ability to satisfy its basic needs.
Yet, the concurrent process of democratic consolidation also emboldened
Latin American citizens both to express their discontent with their governments
and to challenge their legitimacy more forcefully and vocally in the public
space. The result has been a growing sense among Latin American citizens
that the leaders managing the political and economic liberalization of
their countries, ostensibly in their interest, have betrayed their trust.
This sense of betrayal of the public trust has led Latin American citizens
to by-pass traditional channels by using newly-appropriated democratic
powers, mobilizing to demand accountability from the state for its perceived
failures. The most extreme of these social movements have interrupted
not merely the process of economic liberalization but also the course
of constitutional presidencies. Disenchanted electorates, having lost
faith in their representatives, have mobilized to revoke their mandates.
But, is the effective governance the region requires possible under these
conditions? What are the implications to be drawn for the region’s
process of economic and political reform?
The Presidential Symposium Steering Committee of the Stone Center
has gathered analysts and observers of Latin America from a variety of
backgrounds to address the relationship between the decline in public
trust of the state with the dual processes of political liberalization
(democratization) and neoliberal economic reform. Featured
experts
Past
Presidential Symposia
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