Browsing by Author "Loveman, Brian"

Now showing 1 - 9 of 9

Can Development Be Administered?
(1975) Loveman, Brian
"This paper raises some issues concerning the basic assumptions of Marxist-Leninist and American liberal democratic views on the process of 'development.' In particular it asks whether the assumption that development' can be administered is tenable. In approaching this question, the paper examines (l) the conception of development held by Marxist-Leninists and certain liberal democratic theorists, including those associated with the Comparative Administration Group; (2) the means proposed to achieve 'development' in each case; and then.(3) suggests' apparent contradictions in each of these formulations. The contradictions lead to the conclusion that in some important ways 'development administration' is antagonistic to development."
The Constitution of Tyranny: Res Publica and Authorization Politics in Latin America
(1988) Loveman, Brian
"From the time of Spanish conquest and the constitution of empire in the Western Hemisphere in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the legal and moral foundations of Latin American society rest on the fundamental premise that the State, through governmental policy and administration, is responsible for defining and achieving the 'common good'. In this sacred mission, derived from the delegation of heavenly authority to secular princes, the State must not be blocked by private interests or individual claims, nor must private property or private economic activity be allowed to interfere with the ultimate mission: providing for the common welfare. With society conceived in the Thomistic tradition as a unified, organic, hierarchical, functionally specialized system of relations regulated by the 'natural' direction of the State/rulers, private interest and individual 'rights' must be subordinated to the common welfare in order to achieve social peace and harmony. From its inception, thus, Latin American society has been state-centered, with both popular and elite expectations focused on state initiative, even when the reality of daily life demanded circumvention of state generated policy and regulation."
Federalism and Democratization in Latin America: A Comparative Analysis and Partial Reform Agenda
(1996) Loveman, Brian
"In Latin America, many referred to the 1980s as the 'lost decade,' years of negative economic growth, overwhelming debt burdens, authoritarian politics, and civil strife. Yet by decades end the cold war was over and there followed a new wave of political and economic liberalization.5 For U.S. ideological spinmasters, the magic date of 1989 signaled a monumental victory for the forces of 'freedom.' Some even referred to the 'end of history,'in which liberal capitalism would reign unchallenged. "This so-called 'end of history,' now referred to seemingly without irony as 'market democracy,' had other meanings for perhaps 80 per cent of the world's six billion people. Their daily lives and immediate future were not tied to international rhetoric and superficial political reforms. And their inability to control their immediate future was closely tied to the failure of political institutions-global, national, subnational, and local-in the face of dramatic social, economic, and technological change. In particular, it was tied to the myth and the claims of the nation-state."
Historical Foundations of Civil-Military Relations in Spanish America
(1999) Loveman, Brian
From Introduction: "In Spanish America, both colonial and nineteenth-century patterns of civil-military relations have survived into the twentieth century, though they have not survived unchanged or uniformly within the region. Nevertheless, certain aspects of civil-military relations and military institutions in Latin America, and certain patterns of conflict over these patterns and institutions, are recognizable common legacies of pre-twentieth century developments. The present chapter emphasizes some of the similarities across the region and notes the main variations prior to World War I. The chapter begins with colonial legacies, considers the impact of the wars of independence and early efforts at nation building, the challenge of creating new constitutional regimes and the role of the armed forces in nineteenth century constitutions, nineteenth-century national security laws and penal codes, and the impact of European military missions. Together these legacies form a 'living past' that continues to influence civil-military relations. Examples of the influence of this 'living past' are presented for illustrative purposes, but without making an effort to historicize or to compare systematically the diverse cases Ã¢Â?Â? a task for lengthier, detailed historical research."
Land Reform and Political Change in the Countryside: The Mexican and Cuban Cases
(1969) Loveman, Brian
"The present essay is an effort to present an overview of change in the countryside in Mexico (1910-1960) and Cuba (1959-1968). Both cases are treated historically, with particular focus on 1) patterns of land tenure; 2)agricultural systems; 3)social stratification and 4)distribution of political power(authoritative decision-making capability with reference to scarce resources) in the pre and post-revolutionary Mexican and Cuban countryside."
Land Reform, Development, and Institutional Design
(1972) Loveman, Brian
"Land reform has often been viewed as a major remedy for the ills afflicting developing societies. Like the elixirs of the traveling medicine man, no one knows all of the ingredients; no one knows the side effects. But, land reform is guaranteed to cure all--or most all--diseases of developing nations. As John Montgomery has observed, land reform is an example of 'a principle which has been tested and has survived, though its effects have rarely been reported or explained'."
The Logic of Political Corruption
(1991) Loveman, Brian
"Despite the ubiquity of corruption and bribery in all political systems, at all times, and under whatever historical conditions, political analysts inevitably see such activity as exceptional. Such a view of political corruption has reference implicitly to some condition of political health--an ideal condition in which no misdirection of public authority occurs in response to individual inducements. There is, however, no human society in which such ideal conditions are to be found. And notwithstanding American inclinations to equate political corruption with the politics of so-called underdeveloped nations, it is not clear that the grease which lubricates the political machinery of Chicago, New York, or Anytown, U.S.A. is less abundant than in Mexico or the Philippines, the supposed epitome of institutionalized corruption."
Private Development Organizations and International Cooperation: Chile 1973-1990
(1991) Loveman, Brian
"For almost all of its political history Chile has been a highly State-centered society. Although the nation's principal exports and main economic activities were generated in the deserts of the north, the central valley and the southern agricultural provinces, wealth and power were concentrated in Santiago, the political capital. Government policies and initiatives defined the direction, character and limits of private initiative. "Over time, the growth of the political and administrative system also concentrated social and economic opportunities in the country's most important metropolis. This was especially true for professionals, academics, technicians and political elites. Even entrepreneurs and business executives depended upon government-created opportunities and policies. Financial, agricultural and industrial activities responded to a panoply of government subsidies, loans, currency manipulation and protectionist tariff policies. Public enterprises and enterprises financed or stimulated by government programs, played an ever larger role in Chilean economic life."
Property, Politics and Rural Labor: Agrarian Reform in Chile, 1919-1972
(1973) Loveman, Brian
"This study focuses on the political processes and forces that transformed the traditional system of property in rural land in Chile from 1919 to 1972. The central thesis of the study is that the transformation of rural Chile from 1919 to 1972 cannot be understood without reference to the long struggle of Chilean campesinos, aided by urban political parties, labor organizations, and the 'urbanization of the countryside,' to wrest control of the countryside from the Chilean hacendados."