Dissertation Research: Process and Project of Decentralization in Federal and Unitary States in Latin America

拉丁美洲最近的分权趋势与殖民遗产和政府极端中央集权的名声形成了鲜明对比。在整个地区，随着更多的州进行权力下放改革，权力下放已成为一个越来越热门的话题。我的研究试图解决拉丁美洲权力下放的原因和过程。在第一部分，我计划从整个地区收集数据，以检验财政和政治权力下放的几个假设原因。第二部分是对第一部分的补充，解释了权力下放的过程和机制。这两个部分的结合使我们有可能大大提高对权力下放的理解。这项研究有几个重要的理论区别。首先是分权的定义，这在概念上与联邦制截然不同。第二个问题是财政分权和政治分权在概念和经验上的区别。最后，联邦制是根据国家的宪法结构来定义的。在这项区域范围的研究中，有几个假设是从文献中得出的，并在过去30年的数据上进行了检验。联邦制国家结构、经济危机、更高的发展水平、严重的种族和社会分裂的存在以及政治合法性的危机被认为会导致更大的财政和政治权力下放。在探索了财政和政治权力下放的这些区域范围的解释之后，就有可能检验它们之间的因果关系。在第一部分根据区域范围的样本确定了财政和政治权力下放的随意解释之后，第二部分讨论了权力下放是如何发生的问题。为了追踪权力下放的进程，在哥伦比亚、哥斯达黎加和委内瑞拉进行了实地研究。通过实地研究，包括与地方官员和市政支助组织的访谈，我希望了解上述原因导致权力下放的机制。这些数据被用来考虑效率的重要性、权力下放压力的来源，以及这些变化是通过宪法改革还是通过立法授权发生的。案例研究和定量检验这两种研究战略的结合，使人们能够就拉丁美洲权力下放的进程和原因得出重要结论。拉丁美洲的政策制定者和精英们表达了对权力下放的浓厚兴趣。理解是什么导致了权力下放，以及这些因素是如何导致权力下放的，这是政治学的责任。

The recent trend toward decentralization in Latin American is in sharp contrast to a colonial legacy and reputation of extreme government centralization. Across the region, decentralization has become an increasingly hot topic as more states undertake decentralizing reforms. My research seeks to address both the causses and the process of decentralization in Latin America. In the first part, I plan to collect data from the whole region in order to test several hypothesized causes of fiscal and political decentralization. The second part complements the first by explaining the process and mechanisms of decentralization. The combination of these two parts makes it possible to advance significantly our understanding of decentralization. Several important theoretical distinctions frame this study. The first is a definition of decentralization which is distinct conceptually from that of federalism. The second is a conceptual and empirical distinction between fiscal and political decentralization. Finally, federalism is defined in terms of the constitutional structure of the state. In the region-wide study, several hypotheses are derived from the literature and are tested on data for the past 30 years. Federal state structure, economic crisis, higher levels of development, the existence of significant ethnic and social cleavages, and a crisis of political legitimacy are hypothesized to lead to greater fiscal and political decentralization. After exploring these region-wide explanations for fiscal and political decentralization, it is possible to examine the causal relationship between them. Having determined the casual explanation for fiscal and political decentralization based on a region-wide sample in part one, part two takes up the question of how decentralization occurs. Field studies are conducted in Colombia, Costa Rica and Venezuela in order to trace the process of decentralization. Through field research, including interviews with local officials and municipal support organizations, I hope to understand the mechanism through which the causes identified above lead to decentralization. These data are used to consider the importance of efficiency, sources of the pressure to decentralize - top or bottom, and whether these changes occur through constitutional change or legislative mandate. The combination of these two research strategies, case study and quantitative testing, permits significant conclusions about the process and the causes of decentralization in Latin America. Policy makers and elites in Latin American are expressing substantial interest in decentralization. Understanding what leads to decentralization, and how those factors bring it about, is the responsibility of political science.