The relation between development and democracy

Wucherpfennig and Deutsch (2009)1 reviewed Lipset’s modernization theory. In their account they remark the broader elements setting out the context of democratization. The refered factors allow to elaborate the effect of socio-economic development alone. In this regard I will intend to discuss the role of urbanization in this pursue of democracy in developing countries, framing this short discussion around the case of the Peruvian descentralization process and specifically the role that informal urbanization and self-help building has in constructing territories.

In the last 20 years the peruvian democratization process has included a state policy called descentralization. It consist on a progressive endowment of political, administrative and financial functions and duties to local and regional levels of government. Its goal is the construction of autonomous entities at the bottom level of decision making that are referenced to the state institutions, such as budgeting. Therefore the process is incorporating a governance model that also includes non-public stateholders. Moreover, its scope on decision influences the administration of common resources in general, such as land, water, infrastructure, budget, etc.

Urbanization and the social construction of territory

Decision on the use of land is inherently a power brokerage process. It considers the present layout of hierarchies based on economic and political affordance to exhert dominion on the territory. Informal urbanization is a major driver of city growth in Peru, and its disemination at the micro level of small proprietors has been long acknowledged.

The connections between democratization and urbanization can be seen by highlighting the role of the descentralization policy that has been implemented comprehensively across spatial scales and sectors of peruvian state. A key for this interpretation of the property-based democratic mechanism is the individual decision of self-build a house that is influenced by the market-driven spatial transition of the territory. Descentralization is a political and economic process, which is functional to capital reproduction and circulation within the territorial scales. Descentralization in turn offers the foundations to further democratization through the self-building of houses and the emergence of small urban properties patchwork.

The above mentioned governance operation aims primarly to improve economic productivity in the particular sectors the territory has the advantage. The business logic that accompanies this effort is remarked by the incorporation of the competitive factor regarding the supply of products to the international market.

Hurddles to self-help urbanization and democratization in Peru

Thus, as the responsibilities are being diverted from the top level of state administration, human and capital resources, required for the implementation of descentralization, struggle to be incorporated in the governance system. The management of the urban growth is deeply influenced by the power brokerage. In this dimension congressmen, public officials, city majors, landlords, construction firms and the huge number small householders communicate with them. Ideology influence regulations that are supported by modernist rational models of planning. The tension between democratic aspirations of new proprietors and the rational inspired norms gives place to policy coordination at the legistative levels. This political operation inspire new regulations that recognizes and enhances property rights and the urban facilities.

Reference

  1. Wucherpfennig, Julian, and Franziska Deutsch. 2009. Modernization and Democracy: Theories and Evidence Revisited. In: Living Reviews in Democracy. Center for Comparative and International Studies, ETH Zurich and University of Zurich. ↩