Dados is one of the most widely-read social sciences journals in Latin America. Created in 1966, it publishes innovative works, originating from academic research, by Brazilian and foreign authors. Edited by IESP-UERJ, it aims to reconcile scientific rigor and academic excellence with an emphasis on public debate based on the analysis of substantive issues of society and politics.
Dados vol. 36 n. 2 Rio de Janeiro 1993
Abstract
The neoliberal economic reforms enacted by Latin America's and Eastern Europe's new democracies have proven inefficient (entailing high economic and social costs) and at times even ineffective (falling short of proposed goals). This derives both from a Jack of political support and from the dogmatic orthodoxy adopted. When stabilization is achieved, development does not follow. This paper summarizes the authors' analysis of the economic reforms of new democracies in Southwestern Europe, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. Their central thesis is that economic reforms directed at the market and at fiscal discipline are indeed necessary but that these reforms must also (1) recognize the specificity of the great crisis of the state now embroiling Latin America and Eastern Europe; (2) give due attention to social questions, as was the case in Portugal and Spain, thereby protecting social welfare from the cost of adjustments; and (3) rely wholeheartedly on democratic institutions in winning political support for these reforms. ln their diagnosis of the crisis (i.e., as essentially a crisis of the state) and suggested remedies, the authors view their pragmatic, social-democratic approach as an alternative to neoliberalism and an advance over national-developmentalism and statism.
Reformas Econômicas em Democracias Recentes: Uma Abordagem Social-Democrata
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