Presidents, ruling parties, and party rules - A theory on the politics of economic reform in Latin America

The most important struggle in the politics of economic reform implementati on is between the executive and ruling party, not among the state, social g roups, and opposition parties. Economic reforms dislocate the relation betw een executive and ruling party; the executives' response determines the ref orms' outcome. When the executive accommodates ruling parties, as in Argent ina and Mexico, implementation is more likely than when it neglects them, a s in Venezuela and Paraguay. However, accommodation produces gaps in the re form agenda. Paradoxically, market reforms in Latin America have prospered only as a consequence of illiberal lacunae.