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0llTo: Members, Joint Committee on Latin American Studies

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1

From: F.H.Cardoso

Subject: Some comments on the theme State and Society in LatinAmerica

I do agree, in general terms, with Chalmer's

paper from September 21. So, it is not necessary to insist

on the characterization of present trends in the analysis of

this theme or in the enumeration of topics which should be

studied. On the other hand, in spite of my involuntary

absence from the Cuernavaca's meeting, I was carefully informed

by Sunkel about the views presented there and I read the

memos that summarized the discussions. So, let me L~8ee~ I share the preoccupations that Chalmers expresses about

the risks that a comprehensive commissioned research on the

above referred theme might envolve. It is certainly true

that, at this moment, social scientists do not hav~

~al any really sophisticated and integrativ: patter" o~~e"eI~ interpretation which could be used as a guide for

empirical work.

If this is true, as I think, our effort in that

field might be unfolded in two directions: to encourage the

study of concrete historical and political processes and ins-

titutions that lies behind the state system in different

countries and moments in Latin America, and, at the same time,

to provoke more theoretical reflections oriented to answer,

in sociological

"what the State

and political terms, the questions about~

is?", in Latin American crtllldlLio"e.

f

2.

on1&l~ Let me start presenting some comments on the~e direction. It is true that concepts like "Bonapartism"or "Bismarkism", ~DI\I\OW.. j from the European context andtranslated from the~rxist frame of reference buwdrd ~~~

/ lJ ""Ir-~'I\... \"7~ "" ill CN'2 (I).A9-O~ ~ ~"\ ,'tN" ..0\'"Jj/'-

_.( 'the nature of the State)fiRd t~ll pol itiCdl "Forlls S ;+1~(~ c... -wiLli 966't&Ly~" L. ~. ~.9 ~ "-? t:4 U "" -.t~J . ~ ~ ~~\...,. ~ q W ~

_'t~ ~~~ ~~~)~_lv' ~&i!~r ~X

Expressions like "duality of

..

o.nl 3 ".Jf.,~~~~~ ~~~~A dramatic example of ~ necessity could be

done in considering some of the literature about the tragic

recent events in Chile. Facing a new situation - that of a

"bourgeois" state apparatus partially controlled by left

wing parties - both extremes of the political spectrum

discussed in theoretical and practical ways the problems of

the State and society trying to read in the Chilean process

a kind of re-birth of the previous "February-October 17's

drama" in czariar Russia.SOV[ t

power", "se~iQty of workers" - referring to the cordones in-

dustriales,~}on and so forth were largely utilized. The,=- \'~--) .~result of that imitat~in~was that realities weremuch more disguised than understood. Of course, the failure

of the regime cannot be explained in ~terms of "theoreticalmisunderstanding". Such a simplistic view represents a naive

form of philosophical idealism. Nevertheless, the difficulty

to understand that ~ Chilean society - which undoubtef~is the closest ~ to~ Europe~ secletles inis not a "classitpl" type of(~ society and t a the

". /-'ll~~.role of the bourgeois classes was replaced by the" . m - ~ ,.l-

;"\f"'~~-\\~ i~strata" had l,eRJendous consequences in the ~iatiOlt of the ~~.-.J1" :::v..... t. ,.~~~ , ~.......J.~Chil~ce5 . and palitieal ~eFBpeGti"'h

The same is valid vis-a-vis other political

situations. The Argentinian case is gpi~e obvious. What".~ ~j..... '. ~ 1,LJ'~PeronismI~S? ;oM ist type of character-

ization ~ be used fruitfully 0 understand~rgentinian pol i-

matic" leadership, the class struggle behind the political

4.

etical process in our days.

r::aJ.n t"lllflcs to be considered i the1\ em irical prOjeFjtetould~ 'I I 0 """- IV"'"d.be the ddisaggregation and epeeification of the Ille~il:lm strataand their relations with power). Or, in spite of ~ "charis-

arena and the compromise between working classes and upper.,., ( f\((vvJ-j-?

sector that enbal~es from the "petit bourgeois" strictu sensu

~~~repreneurs, including ~ large groups of employees)~ 1IaI A,...~"'/M"e-...- &J

~ showing a kind of "perverse" process of so~ial-democracylsir-

in march? If this is true, why "perverse"? "Because it re-

sembles ~European social-democracies (1'n Lst"'.,. for instance,\-v."" ()/\'""')of the union's role) and at the same time it does not correspond

Mvvit'J->to the democratic form of control which iacludes e "true" party-

..

..

system?

I ~I" 't Tills-r~M'-doubts aRE! reHcencSll. indicate~ ~.~~

j ;;9{. that i\~St0lhr~~~~U~~~i~I~~in-(f~ sights c.peblec:o ~:~~e ~emergeA~ eRd pr~gUB situa-

(~ in latin AmericaJa.&Wt If wemove from the "left side" of the political spectrum toward the

"7other side, parallel lack 0 theoretical analysis is striking.The Brazilian "political mo~"~t~ce, challenges.po-J;. ERill anal sts. How can we idel alld eelicepbuaiizQ Lt....fact that the country where capitalism is performing at the

fatest rate i~ producing, at the same time)an ambiguous pheno-) "~''''''''fAA W?menon that could be ....ontnadictolt' labelled ~C) illy LIoIat a "new

,w~ ;,C?class", the "state bourgeoisie"\1:SBXPanding ~ capability of

/1political control over the State)_ Which social forces are be-~

5.

Is i~State itself replaces, hind the state apparatus?'!i>~ some extent)the classica~ (or heterodox?) functions of the

party system?

tical system

What(:ashionsof that specific

nd forms characterize~ the poli-bureaucratic-military-authorita-

..

rian regime?

and "in-J.-~4y c ear

he Peruvian military regime,~~ ~ 11"'

6.

I have some doubts. In comparison with vJeasLnn

..

European countries, the relations between "civil society" and

"political society", to use an ~egelian expression, since theIberian monarchical state system were roo1ted on different

grounds. The emergence of cities and civil rights, the role

of bourgeois classes, the pact between them and the Prince -

or their struggle against the Prince - had special features

in eastern European. countries where development derived from

E1Pica~feudal societies and estates. The emergence ofthe State - as well as the thought on the State and society -

was conceived in those countries as one possibility of per-

forming the general will in the referred two distinct ways,

as the concretization of the very essence of a Volksgeist, or

as the result of a "social contract".

The first alternative represents the idea of

a totalitarian State, even if it was conceived as the way to

permit the development of the historical process that allowed

a people to exist by itself. The second one, was the substan-

tivation of the idea of a democratic State. Even in Hobbes'

lJ-V\rr.~, the justification of'"t'n9. State imposition wasSQqe in pr~ep to avoid homo hominis lupo. It is true that"democracy" in that context was thought in terms of a "possessive

society". The right to participate in the liberal contract at

the political market was restricteA-to proprieto~s._ Neverthe- ~--t' &vi $" 0'" c:('j' v'-"- (II) ,rlV\. CVl~ I I- I\"Cfl~

...

7.

I think that the Iberian State was never

conceived as a totalitarian or a~ocratic State. It had,since its emergence, a proper legitimacy, based less on a

supra-institutional spirit that could justify the totalitarianstate than in a concremand pragmatic interest of the Real

situations.

or Hispanic situation lies in the fa1t~t~th~~1reasur ~~k~~argpJy ...... ",pospd

8.

On the other hand, as-~~~~~~~---

regimes are not a pure imitation. as F ae depe dency 'itua-

tion~dds specific feature~ r;~~~sDihe significance ofthe stater~iderations~e ~~itute on~lawko .smaterial to be reelaborated. It is possible that ~ litical

processVlrl "ouaday s representh the coincidence b~tween t':lo .. "~~-\i'~~ l (JVV vdifferent axis. On one hand, ~ authoritarian' rivedfrom an old political philosophy rooted on state bureaucracy;

,9~her,~the~e~ralizationof economic decisions/re~~irad~""'n :\ 1- 0 ~ n.v\"

U.efficiency and~pported by ~ big corporatio~interests. It is easy to understand that such a coincidence,

without the countervailing trend of a democratic, even if

"possessive",

totalitarian,

tradition, or a strqng nationali~tlc, eve~~f..l-WV\ 1101 :J,.L/... 0~ ~-~,... tu 1 /1'1 ""-Vy-

spi r it, t-.S8 goodde~anc6 to...... be 881 F9iRforeed. II

Of course, the possible clash between such a

powerful system and the "civil society" - which, in one or

another way expands as a consequence of economic development

is the other topic to be faced by any political thought oriented

in a creative way toward present day~~ latin America politics.Will it be possible to ~~~~~e '-- populist tradition i

~ ~~and, in spite Of~~t~;;~~~a~i~~n:)~tsne ~ latinAmerican societies intQ RlQre 8 1 i lie and activt:;i.cl0il soclBLy4-

C'

How could this be done, considering that in contemporary so-

cieties public

increasingly controlled b

is~and by ~ested interests? Is

.. WhSR I 8~&S~ during the last New York

9

ad in mind~ \J(M. ;>- S\I'.l

meeting;\(? seminar

on the problems of power in Latin America~ It seems to me

that O'Don~II's seminar could be the first opportunity forus to discuss those and rela~ions. Keeping in mind

.-t-/'t"s type gf theeFstical aild geilerltl issues, it will beprobably possible and ~ruitful to present a list of empirical

case stf~~:' ~C~hose studies, if~guidpd .l.0>-- " "-'-' '\> Yo\....tsl W \-";-e..-l,. ;} 1..-.AV...(~~

by ~ m and supported by heoretical reflec-- \

2 .

other theoretical tools - such as the systematic approach or the"economic theory of politics", apparently much more precise, are

Iput aside? Again, Chalmer's paper goes ~n the right direction. Hepoints out that the very fact to be considered is that if it istrue that Latin America political patterns are not so chaotic assome foreign analysts use to consider they neither are pure imi-tations from European or American political styles Ath:y~seem tohave something in common with both. To grasp realities in afluid process with a "Western minded" theoretical )l'armory is a realfeat. And, of course, we have no other tradition than the Westernfrom which to build a science. In other words, in order to~achaotic or impressionistic analysis or an imitative one, there isno other solution than to improve our theoretical creativity, re-considering from the beginning the main questions about the natureof the State, as well as about the relation between State and so-ciety in Latin America. As far as this task is not accomplisheddue to difficulties easy to be imagined, a kind of allusive and a-nalogical vocabulary replaces the desirable scientific~ ~ d v vJl '

A dramatic example of the necessity tp create ~n~w(~ !:::l~ ("'\.oo.""-\. ...~

and more precise tools in political analysis oolllli Be-done ":)1 con-'8~~g som -~ the literature about the tragic recent events inChile. Facing a new situation - that of a "bourgeois" state ap-paratus partially controlled by left wing parties - both extremesof the political spectrum discussed in theqretical and practical

.l>"'* ~ ,lovways the problems of the State and societ~trying tb read in the

Chi,~n process a kiRQ ill? re-birth of the previous "February-October 17's drama" in czarian Russia. Expression like "duality ofpower", "soviet of workers" - referring to the cordones industri-ales, sRQ se GH aft9 so forth were largely utilized. The result ofthat imitative and imprecise way of thinking was that realitieswere much more disguised than understood. Of course, the failureof the regime cannot be explained in terms of "theoretical misunderstanding". Such a simplistic view represents a naive form of phil-osophical idealism. Nevertheless, the difficulty to understandthat Chilean society - which undoubtedly is the closest to Europe

--- -- in Latin America - is not a "classilfal" type of capitalist society

Co

3

and, for instance, that the role of the bourgeois classes was po-litically replaced by the "middle strata" had tremendous conse-quences in the evaluation of the political weight of Chilean socialforces which were menacing both, government and regime.

The same is valid vis-a-vis other political situ-ations. The Argentinian case is quite obvious. What does Peronismreally mean? Can the old populist type of characterization beused fruitfully to understand the Argentinian political process inour days? Or, in spite of "charismatic" leadership, the classstruggle behind the political arena and the compromise between

C" )working classes and upper sectors" (that ranges from the "petitbourgeois" strictu sensu .~p to the entrepreneurs, including largfL

-VI tA. 11-0 \A l..eg oups 0 employees) is ~Fl't~na-sl"!'s\iiilg a knd of "perverse" pree

DVJ eV\ s?, -ess O'f social-democracy. in JlL~ ctt? If this is true, why "pervers e"?Is it because it resembles European social-democracies (for in-stance, in terms of the union's role) and at the same time it doesnot correspond to the democratic form of control which requires a"true" party-system?

These doubts indicate that it is urgently necessaryto produce fresh views, concepts and insights in order to considerand analyse emerging situations as well as their antecedents inLatin America. If we move from the "left side" of the politicalspectrum toward the other side, a parallel lack of theoretical a-nalysis i~ striking. The Brazilian "political model", for in-stance, challenges analysts. How can we interpret the fact thatthe country where capitalism is performin~ at th fastest rate, isi1~'-'J c. "_ .Jproducing, at the same time, an ambiguoGS\phenomenon ~ould be

l-aeelled ifl30fal as a "new class 11 ,Ghe "statebOurgeoisie"? wfflch is ~xp.anaing its e'apabilit oT ~olitical con-

t~l v~ Which social forces are behind the state

(*)~~~e way; ne of the main topics to be considered in the em-pirical pr~j~cts should be the disaggregation and )S~eeifica~Il of the me~tlE!' strata and their relations with pOljler

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apparatus? Is it true that the State itself replaces, to some e)(-tent, the lassical ~~r bee.redex97 functions of the party system?

rz...What 4'aslt!:ons and forms characterize the political system of thatspecific bureaucratic-military-authoritarian regime?

How does the Peruvi fI military regime, the eoylpo'ro..i, ~imodel, ~ nc (whi is co n to both, Brazilian and Peruvian

O"A o'h~ t-:~ Isituations) and "internati on the other, whoselinks with the Brazilian eco my are absolutely clear but muchless so in the we really speak of "developmentalmilitarism" in so, what is the political capac-ity of specification an of such a vague characteri-

V?Is it possible to relate all these State forms with

a particular economic historical phase of the peripheral economiesand to distinguish between them in terms of different socio-politi-cal forces, pressures and traditions? How can we compare the La-tin American state systems with their European counterparts inother periods? Is it possible to homogenize (keep constant) somestructural variables, such as the level of industrialization andurbanization, forms and extent of political participation etc.?

l)A-J~p~co ()~ ~RMronelaes lions) s1J751ras 1=1=1& aliloH'ir) lies tHe veryt~"E-iecr. ~t~I'rega-"E-i~ns-' er 0 wha he 0Ii . articipation interferes with-~stat~Are those two classic and contradictory models of the State, -Ilowaelythe Hegelian and the liberal, adequate to interpret the State phe-nomenon in Latin American societies?

I h ~ some oubts. omparison with western Eu-ropean countries the rations bet "civil society" and "poli-tical society", to u e an Hegel~an expression, since the Iberian m~narchical sTate system were rooted on different grounds.) The emer-gence of cities and civil rights, the role of bourgeois classes,the pact between them and the Prince - or their struggle againstthe Prince - had special feature\ in eas~ern European countrieswhere development derived from typically feudal societies and es-

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biljt t~e~neral Wil~~~ne~eferred two distinctways, as the concretl ation of the very esse ce of a Volksgeist, oras the result of a "SOCl 1 contract".

"-

The first alternative represents the idea of a to-talitarian State, even if it was conceived as the way to permit thedevelopment of the historical process that allowed a people to ex-ist by itself. The second one, was the bs antiva~ion of ao a d ocratic State. v n i Hob e.' J eVlathan

~i:~~tr~ I ! 5,' ~ l.Af ~ ,.Ai State imposltion)W86 to avoid homo hominis lupo. It istrue that "democracy" in that context was thought in terms of a"possessive society". The right to participate in the liberal con-tract at the political market was restricted to proprietors. Never-theless, the State had a raison d'etre as far as it respected in-dividual interests.

I think that the Iberian State was never conceived

,

as a totalitarian or as a democratic State. It had, since its e-mergence, a proper legitimacy, based less on a supra-institutionalspirit that e01:11El justify the t04:alitdridll st:M than in a concreteand pragmatic interest of the Real Treasury. That was true withreference to other European situations. But the distinctive characteristic of the Portuguese or Hispan"c situ tion lies in t ~factthat the Real Tre sury woJ) c. .. (\.p b~ ,"".s ~

.... ...,.... 11 ( ,. ~ cC" .t \ ~.A L. .-1 At the same ime, "tile \/82~R'i.B OF the J--

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6.

proposed by Juan Linz comes the closest to various Latin Americanregimes, past and present.

..

On the other hand, Latin American political re-gimes are not a pure imitation. The situation of dependency addsspecific features and redefines the significance of the State - theconsiderations just outlined constitute only raw material to be re-elaborated. It is possible that today's political processes re-present the coincidence between two different axis. On one hand,authoritarian institutions derived from an old political philosophyrooted on state bureaucracy; on the other, the centralization ofeconomic decisions, which seems a requisite of economic efficiencyand is supported by big corporation interests. It is easy tounderstand that such a coincidence, without the countervailingtrend of a democratic, even if "possessive", tradition, or a strongnationalistic, even if totalitarian, spirit, easily becomes self-reinforcing.

Of course, the possible clash between such a power-ful system and the "civil society" - which, in one~or another wayexpands as a cons fience of economic development - is the other

_I :t9pic to be faced M (l:ny political though t orl.ented ill a creative")\;"