State and Nation Making in Latin America and Spain: Republics of the Possible

Description

The growth of institutional capacity in the developing world has become a central theme in twenty-first-century social science. Many studies have shown that public institutions are an important (some would argue the most important) determinant of long-run rates of economic growth. This book argues that to understand the difficulties and pitfalls of state building in the contemporary world, it is necessary to analyze previous efforts to create institutional capacity in conflictive contexts. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the process of state and nation building in Latin America and Spain from independence to the 1930s. The book examines how Latin American countries and Spain tried to build modern and efficient state institutions for more than a century - without much success. The chapters discuss key processes and challenges of state building. To what extent do historical legacies determine the capacity and reach of states? What are the obstacles to and paths toward the effective consolidation of public authority? How can states best design and create the institutions meant to provide the basic services now associated with citizenship? How can we put together notions of community that include diverse groups and cultures within a single identity, while also respecting the integrity of particular traditions? The Spanish and Latin American experience of the nineteenth century was arguably the first regional stage on which the organizational and political dilemmas that still haunt states were faced. This book provides an unprecedented perspective on the development and contemporary outcome of those state and nation building projects. Cover State and Nation Making in Latin America and Spain Title Copyright Dedication Contents Contributors Preface Part I Introduction 1 Republics of the Possible Introduction Liberalism and the State Project Dimensions of State Strength The Iberian State Plan of the Book 2 The Construction of National States in Latin America, 1820–1890 Chile Argentina Brazil Mexico Colombia Conclusions 3 State Building in Western Europe and the Americas in the Long Nineteenth Century Introduction State Building in Europe: The Theoretical Debate, its Results, and its Consequences The Slow and Discontinuous Emergence of the “Modern” Nation-State in Nineteenth-Century Europe The Hesitant Way of State and Nation Building in the Americas: From Colonial Times to the Aftermath of the Revolutions Conclusions Part II Territorial and Economic Power 4 The State and Development under the Brazilian Monarchy, 1822–1889 The Origins and Nature of the State Implications of the State’s Origin State Policy and Development State Impact on Finance State Impact on Infrastructure and Communication The State, Slavery’s Abolition, and Political Impasse Conclusion and Reflections on the Imperial State 5 The Brazilian Federal State in the Old Republic (1889–1930) The Issue of Federalism in the Late Empire The Republican Constituent Assembly The Federal Republic in Practice Fiscal Development of the Republic Other Differences between Empire and Republic in Financial and Fiscal Policy Public Health and Education Concluding Remarks 6 The Mexican State, Porfirian and Revolutionary, 1876–1930 The State and the Polity The State and the Economy 7 Nicaragua: The Difficult Creation of a Sovereign State The Creation of the State: The Elite and the Indians The Interoceanic Canal and Its Mirages U.S. Occupation and Impossible Political Stability Conclusions 8 Friends’ Tax Introduction Liberal Regimes and Political Power Central State and Local Elites Fiscal Reforms: Old and New Taxes The Structure of Public Spending Part III Infrastructural Power 9 Ideological Pragmatism and Nonpartisan Expertise in Nineteenth-Century Chile Education The University of Chile and the Spread of Popular Education Civil Law Conclusion Appendix 10 Militarization without Bureaucratization in Central America Punctuated Export Agricultural Expansion Increased Revenues as a Permissive Condition for State Development State Militarization Punctuated Military Expansion: Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua Incremental Military Growth: Honduras and Costa Rica Coffee Elites and Local Political Power Professional Civil Service Development State Positions as Political Spoils The Costa Rican Exception Conclusion 11 Between Empleomanía and the Common Good Expert Bureaucracies during the Conservative Order The Persistence of política criolla Schooling for All Empleomania in the Radical Republic Summary and Conclusions 12 Elite Preferences, Administrative Institutions, and Educational Development during Peru’s Aristocratic Republic (1895–1919 Lima Learns about the Crisis of Schooling Census Administration and State Power The Census as Source: State Weakness and pre-Civilista Education in Peru Explaining Educational Stagnation in Nineteenth-Century Peru Lima’s Commitment to Educational Development Local Control and Educational Stagnation The Extent and Limits of Educational Development under the Civilistas The Rise and Erosion of Administrative Centralization Conclusion: State Building, Centralization, and Local Elite Influence Part IV Symbolic Power and Legitimacy 13 Liberalism in the Spanish American World, 1808–1825 Introduction Hispanic Liberalism Liberalism and Social Reality Revolutions in the Atlantic World Final Remarks 14 Visions of the National Latin American Nations, and Nations in General The Dark Side of Europe, and Natural Endowments The Fragility of the Nation as a Community Landscapes and Politicians, Futures and Threatening “Human Types” Conclusions 15 Spanish National Identity in the Age of Nationalisms The Liberal Revolution Efforts of Intellectual Élites Obstacles to the Nation-Building Process Anticlericalism Imperialism Pan-Iberism Pan-Hispanism 1898: The Collapse. Alternative Nationalisms 1900–1936: The Virulent Phase in the Construction of Spanish Nationalism The Counterrevolution 16 Census Taking and Nation Making in Nineteenth-Century Latin America Signaling Modern Nationhood Creating Cohesive Nations Dealing with Difference Denying Difference: Nation Making by Exclusion Absorbing Difference: Nation Making by Assimilation Conclusion 17 Citizens before the Law Family Law in Chile Chile in Comparative Perspective 18 Envisioning the Nation Mapping the Nation Province by Province Picturing Provincial Types Describing Provincial Types Reconciling Heterogeneity and Homogeneity: A Mestizo Nation Federalism and Regionalism Conclusions and Comparisons Part V Conclusion 19 Paper Leviathans The Spanish Difference Paper Leviathans Historical Legacies Bibliography Index