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Municipal stories of institutional weakness. The cases of Riohacha, Mocoa, and Arauca
This document complements, from a qualitative approach, the research contained in the book “The states of the country. Municipal institutions and local realities”. Here are the “life stories” of three municipalities -Riohacha, Mocoa, and Arauca- in which state power is not as strong as in other territories. In these stories we wanted to “contextualize” the hard data of the quantitative part and link some institutional indicators with a history and a specific social and political reality. We wanted, in short, to “tell a story of institutional weakness.”
Read MoreInstitutional incorporation of the periphery in Colombia: Decentralization, royalties, and the National Plan of Consolidation
This paper starts from the analysis presented in the book “The states of the country. Municipal institutions and local realities”(2011) in order to analyze, with a less academic approach and more of a public policy recommendation, three processes of state formation in Colombia: the decentralization process, the impact of royalties in the municipalities, and the National Territorial Consolidation Plan currently being implemented in some parts of the country.
Read MoreDiatribe against the “great men”
Today, Colombians believe more in democracy than two years ago. For some it will be a surprise, for others just a platitude, but the fact that Uribe is no longer in power has a lot to do.
Read MoreFreedom, by Jonathan Franzen
Against a backdrop of how the United States has seen itself after 9-11, Jonathan Franzen portrays in his latest novel, Freedom, the private life of an american family. The American dream is not a dream, nor does it become a nightmare, it becomes a reality that nobody wanted and with which they have to live.
Read MoreReformulating drug policy: inescapable challenge for Colombia
Prohibition has failed and has caused enormous damage. There are practical, feasible and proven alternatives. But the international status quo will not change until a key player, like Colombia, gives the first step.
Read MorePoliticians, reading and literature
SHOULD A POLITICIAN, especially if he/she aspires to be president, be a good reader, even an intellectual?
Read MoreAbuses of the Secretariat for Mobility
The story I relate below happened in real life. You judge if I am wrong in saying that the Secretariat ofr Mobility committed an abuse.
Read MoreIn memory of Alvaro Camacho
What separated me from Alvaro Camacho Guizado was his incomprehensible passion for Millionarios (soccer team), but I was drawn close to him due to the admiration I had since I was very young for the way this great scholar, who died unexpectedly and prematurely last week, could analyze, with rigor and passion, essential issues to Colombia, such as drug trafficking, violence, public safety, and recovery of historical memory.
Read MoreThe photo of the( afro) year
With ironic timing, Hola magazine closes the international year for people of African descent with a photo of two black maids (that is what they are in the image), stationed as ornaments in the margins of the scene where their white patrons- “the most powerful women in the Cauca Valley”, according to Hola- pose in front of the pool of their” formidable Hollywood mansion.”
Read MoreTo reduce informality: equitable education
The new Minister of Labour should be one of the most interested in supporting the requirements of the student movement.
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