Democrats and technocrats: professional economists and regime transitions in Latin America

The present moment sees the confluence of two dramatic trends: a wave of democratization unprecedented in world history and a virtually worldwide pattern of appointment of professional economists to high political office. Some observers of Latin America have questioned whether the power of technocratic managers does not constitute a fundamental deformation of democratic claims. The author present an analysis of the Chilean case drawing on interviews with politicians and economists. Chile's experience suggests that there is no single, invariable relationship between the holding of power by technical experts and democratic practice. In Chile the technically trained economist-politicians have been incorporated into the party system. In contrast, the reality of democracy in several other countries of the region is more profoundly threatened by the role played by technical experts. -Authors