Book Review
<a href=www.latintrade.com>LatinTrade May, 2003
Javier Corrales, associate professor of political science at Amherst College, begins his book with a troublesome fact: According to a survey by Latinobaró-metro in 2001, less than 5% of Latin Americans have a high level of confidence in political parties. In some countries, political parties are among the most discredited institutions, ranking well below the armed forces.
Even with those results, Corrales rails against the theory that political parties are coming to an end. He believes they continue to play a fundamental role in governing a country. He also maintains that political institutions do not reflect society’s sentiments but, rather, mold the preferences and attitudes of the population, serving as the architects of public opinion. At the same time, they are a channel of communication between citizens and the executive power, possibly the main conduit of communication.
The author looks at the period when free market reforms were implemented in Latin America and the role of political parties in that process. Several studies regarding that era focus on the conflict between the government and political opposition, or between the government and interest groups. But Corrales believes the most crucial relationship is between the executive branch and the ruling party. “If the president manages to get the ruling party to cooperate with the reform process, the state’s capacity to govern the economy will increase,” he writes. To prove his hypothesis, he dedicates a large portion of the book to two countries that launched free market reforms under similar conditions in 1989 yet yielded different results: Argentina and Venezuela.
That year, the newly elected governments of Carlos Andrés Pérez in Venezuela and Carlos Saúl Menem in Argentina initiated similar economic reforms. Both presidents belonged to populist political parties: Pérez to Acción Democratica (AD) and Menem to the Peronist Party (PJ). During his first term, Menem was able to rein in a huge fiscal deficit and eradicate the inflation that had plagued the government of his predecessor, Raúl Alfonsín. This miracle won him PJ approval for his privatization plans and deregulation even though the free market practices Menem implemented differed from the ideology of his own party. Menem knew it would be difficult to rule without the support of the Peronists. In 1990, he declared: “There will be no national unity if there is no unity within the party.”
In Venezuela, on the other hand, philosophical differences between Pérez and AD led to the country’s worst political crisis in 30 years, characterized by explosive popular protests, two coup attempts, changes in the cabinet, interruption of reforms, an increased crime rate and economic woes. Pérez was finally forced out by the Venezuelan legislature in 1993, replaced by another former president, Rafael Caldera, who sunk the economy further when he curtailed reforms then later tried to implement them again under Agenda Venezuela. Hugo Chávez, Caldera’s successor, has opted to attack the party system, depending instead on the military. The current crisis in Venezuela, according to Corrales, exemplifies the problems caused by the weakening role of parties in political life.
The author applies his theory to eight other Latin American countries, including Cuba. When Fidel Castro lost subsidies from Moscow at the beginning of the 1990s, he had to adopt market reforms, open the country to foreign investment, allow certain independent businesses and legalize the dollar. Many believed such reforms would make the system crumble as it broke the structure of privileges. But the Cuban leader maintained strong state participation in new capitalist corporations, restricted private activity and even controlled the hiring of staff in foreign companies, which allowed him to place the most loyal government supporters in the best jobs, thus consolidating his support.
Presidents Without Parties revives the theory that political parties are indispensable in order to rule. As he concentrates on the relationship between ruling parties and the executive power, however, Corrales fails to place enough emphasis on current economic phenomenon present in the crisis in Venezuela and the disaster in Argentina. Nevertheless, in a period when traditional political parties are distrusted and there is a boom in popular or marginal institutions, this book addresses an important issue in the debate about the future of Latin America.
Author: Andrés Hernández Alende