Good intentions and perverse effects: the limits of institutional reformism in Colombia and Venezuela

Authors

  • Ana María Bejarano Departamento de Ciencia Política de la Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá. Center of International Studies (CIS), Universidad de Princeton

Keywords:

crises, democracy, electoral systems, institutional reform, Colombia, Venezuela

Abstract

During the 1990s, in order to manage the crisis of democracy. Venezuela and Colombia carried out institutional reforms which were aimed at improving the decentralization process, the electoral systems and the Constitution; at first sight. however, it seems that the outcomes coming from such reforms have deepened the crises. With regard to this paradoxical situation, the author argues that any reform process causes unintended and unpredictable consequences, some of which could not be always beneficial. Since there are always costs associated to institutional reform, it is necessary to avoid those kind of diagnosis which are prone to see reality as an uncontested truth.

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Author Biography

Ana María Bejarano, Departamento de Ciencia Política de la Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá. Center of International Studies (CIS), Universidad de Princeton

Profesora asistente del Departamento de Ciencia Política de la Universidad de los Andes en Bogotá, e investigadora visitante en el Center of International Studies, CIS, de la Universidad de Princeton.

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How to Cite

Bejarano, A. M. (2016). Good intentions and perverse effects: the limits of institutional reformism in Colombia and Venezuela. Comentario Internacional. Journal of the Andean Center of International Studies, (4). Retrieved from https://revistas.uasb.edu.ec/index.php/comentario/article/view/197

Issue

No. 4 (2002): La política exterior del Ecuador

Section

Other issues

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