LOCAL EXECUTIVE POWER IN LATIN AMERICAN CAPITAL CITIES SINCE 1945 Waves of democracy & Import Substitution Industrialization

First Wave of Democracy First Wave Impact of United States Revolution World War I “Make the World Safe for Democracy” First Reverse Wave Economic difficulties in 1920’s Triumph of Nazism in 1930’s

Second Wave of Democracy Second “Short” Wave ’s Victory by democrats in WW II Dispersion of benefits of industrial revolution to Latin America Second Reverse Wave 1960’s to early 1980’s Again, economic dimension critical Middle class fears of the poor Military had major role Bureaucracies used to impose “order”

Import Substitution Industrialization (ISI) ISI begins in the Great Depression Economic downturn in industrial world provokes economic disaster in Latin America Latin American elites attempt to regain control over economic destiny Domestic subsidization of public sector industries Post World War II Period ECLA becomes most influential of the UN’s regional economic commissions ECLA gains acceptance of ISI at Breton Woods Conference

Municipal Government in Second Wave Democracy Municipal services become more important because of ISI Lack of administrative talent at the local level leads national political leaders to exempt municipal government from efforts to democratize Fears for the security of the political regime leads national leaders to keep tight control over the capital cities

Municipal Government in the Second Reverse Wave of Authoritarianism Municipal governments treated as administrative subdivisions of national executive Bureaucratic authoritarian governments are negative toward large new investments in urban infrastructure Local autonomy of municipal governments increased in matters of policy implementation

Third Wave of Democratization (1980’s – Present) World-wide recession discredits bureaucratic authoritarian political regimes Human rights violations frightens many in those groups that initially favored developmentalist dictatorships Growing global consensus for democracy

Empowerment of Municipal Governments: Third Wave Democracy Discrediting of ISI removes important reason for subordination of municipal governments Human Rights Violations in Bureaucratic Authoritarianism increase willingness to restrict power of central government Pool of trained professionals increases Local Empowerment Executives Councils Bureaucracies

Capital Cities are Different Capital cities are different Seats of political power Symbolic of the nation Security concerns Federal vs. unitary states Special characteristics of capital city populations lead to ground swell to democratize and empower local political institutions

Empowerment of Capital City Governments Empowerment of municipal political institutions Elected capital city mayors Capital city mayor becomes a broker of interest groups that reside in the capital city Capital city mayor often second most important elected official in nation Increased powers to city councils in order to check empowered mayors

Security Concerns Mayor given control of traffic police States and/or regions get their own police forces Concern for security of national government reflected in decision to allow presidents to retain control over the most important capital city police forces

Urban Built Environments: Colonial Cores Where things happened in colonial epoch Deterioration during the nineteenth century

Urban Built Environments of Capital Cities: first 150 years Reconstruction/Modernization ( ) Buenos Aires – ( ) Mexico City & Mayor Ernesto Uruchurtu Caracas after the death of Gómez Guatemala: Liberation Avenue

Buenos Aires: First World City ?

Buenos Aires: Shantytowns like other cities of Latin America

Urban Built Environments of Capital Cities: Bureaucratic Authoritarianism Governments of “Second Reverse Wave” emphasize industrial infrastructure Pollution On the periphery or in new industrial cities

Urban Built Environment in Capital Cities: Third Wave Democracy Items emphasized have not lent themselves to physical expression Rule of law Equality Human rights Public services possible exception Health Education

Built Environments of Capital Cities since 1950’s Previously: capital cities were unlike all other locations Projected high style Represented aspirations that encoded cultural values and aspirations through repertories of culture-specific elements. Capability to communicate high level meaning declined after 1960 Physical aspects of morphology became less pronounced in 1980’s Special functions of capital cities endure.