democracy;economic reform;Honduras;legitimacy of government;political development

Cuesta, J.D.

English

Research Papers in Economics

ECONOMIC REFORMS AND THE DEFICIT OF DEMOCRATIC
LEGITIMACY IN HONDURAS
Jose Cuesta
1
July 2002
Working Paper Series No. 366
319.                                                  
1 Institute of Social Studies, The Hague (cuesta@iss.nl). I wish to thank comments from Rolando Sierra and
Sergio Membreno, and one anonymous referee. The usual disclaimers apply. The Institute of Social Studies is Europe's longest-established centre of higher education and
research in development studies. Post-graduate teaching programmes range from six-week
diploma courses to the PhD programme. Research at ISS is fundamental in the sense of laying a
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Comments are welcome and should be addressed to the author:2
ABSTRACT
For the last decade Honduras underwent two critical developmental processes, that
is, the consolidation of its democracy and a comprehensive program of economic reforms.
Both processes achieved only relative progress resulting in a persistent crisis of
democratic legitimacy and the need for a second wave of profound economic reforms to
be implemented in the next fifteen years. Contrary to most conventional analyses, this
paper explores the impact that economic reforms have had upon the democratic
consolidation process in Honduras. The hypothesis is that economic reforms shape
democratic consolidation to the extent that affect the socio-economic inclusion and State’s
capacities to carry out nationally desired policies. These channels are analysed and
compared with the role that political factors have had in the process of legitimisation. It is
found that traditional political practises and subsequent unfinished political transitions
have had a major and more substantial role than economic reforms in explaining political
dissatisfaction and democratic delegitimisation. This in turn causes a higher pressure on
structural reforms to deliver ‘economic goods’ if democracy is to further consolidate in the
country.3
CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................1
2. THE DEFICIT OF DEMOCRATIC LEGITIMACY IN HONDURAS........................2
3. A FRAMEWORK LINKING ECONOMIC REFORMS AND DEMOCRATIC 
   LEGITIMACY................................................................................................................7
    3.1 The Legitimacy contradiction..................................................................................7
    3.2 The hypothesis of economic reforms eroding legitimacy in Honduras.....................
4. CONTRASTING THE HYPOTHESIS OF LEGITIMACY ERODING ECONOMIC 
   REFORMS........................................................................................................................
    4.1 Faltered economic reforms ........................................................................................
    4.2 Economic reforms and exclusion...............................................................................
    4.3 Economic reforms and the State’s capacities.............................................................
5. POLITICAL FACTORS: AN UNFINISHED TRANSITION FROM ELECTORAL 
   TO PARTICIPATIVE DEMOCRACY............................................................................
6. ECONOMIC REFORMS AND THE UNFINISHED POLITICAL TRANSITION
    6.1 Economic reforms and the participatory democracy.................................................
    6.2 A final look at economic reforms and political aspects.............................................
7. CONCLUSIONS..............................................................................................................
REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................
APPENDICES.................................................................................................................34

Economic reforms and the deficit of democratic legitimacy in Honduras

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