Full Description
This book explores how public appointments influence and are shaped by political and administrative factors, and their impact on governance, state capacity, and democratic legitimacy across Latin America. Through comparative analyses and case studies from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru, it investigates the complex interplay between political interests and meritocratic principles. The volume examines how politicized appointments affect institutional performance, corruption, and societal inequality, shedding light on strategic calculations behind cabinet formation, bureaucratic recruitment, and professionalization efforts. By dissecting the tensions between politics and bureaucratic expertise, it also highlights the challenges of politicization and the possibilities of professionalization and merit-based reforms. Rich with nuanced insights, this work serves as a valuable resource for scholars, policymakers, and practitioners aiming to understand and enhance public sector governance, institutional reform, and democratic stability in Latin America and beyond.
Contents
Introduction: The politics of public appointments in Latin America.- Part I: Overarching logic: Patronage, merit, and professionalization.- 1. Public administration and public appointments as an institution: The tension between technique and politics in Argentina.- 2. Shaping the streets: The dynamics of political appointees in street-level bureaucracy and service delivery.- 3. Is it possible to balance politics and expertise in a politicized public administration?.- 4. Sub-national public appointments in Mexico.- Part II: Bureaucratic expertise and politics.- 5. Public but not governmental: Implications of public appointments in social participation bodies at the local level.- 6. The Peruvian cabinet formation: Between party weakness and extreme instability.- 7. Recruitment, careers and trajectories of senior officials in Latin American public administration: Insights from Argentina.- 8. Reinforcing the inner circle: The center of government in Argentina, Chile, and Peru.- Part III: Consequences and effects.- 9. Public appointments and governance in developing countries: A comparative analysis in Latin America.- 10. The selling and inheritance of public office in the Mexican public sector.- 11. Senior public management system and its contribution to the professionalization of the bureaucratic elite in Chile.- 12. The appointments in the executive branch of Ecuador: An analysis from the actors.- 13. Conclusion: A research agenda for public appointments in Latin America and beyond.
