As the title of this book suggests, the relation of the state to civil society and the economy is at the heart of debates and reform efforts throughout Latin America. However, there is little consensus on the proper role of the state in society and the economy. The current volume is a successful attempt to describe some of the factors shaping the changing role of the state in the region, but there are important gaps in the analyses offered.
The first four essays, by Howard Wiarda, Peter Smith, Patricio Silva, and William Glade, offer cultural and historical-structural explanations of the state’s changing role. Although not explicit about their differences, the essays clearly follow the distinct approaches to the state that dominate current debates. For Wiarda, the state’s role cannot be understood outside the context of a “bureaucratic-patrimonialist, corporatist, centralist and authoritarian tradition” (p. 27) rooted in Iberian culture. He sees...
