The Economy, Stupid': Notes on a Continuing Conversation - Núm. 49, Mayo 2021 - Revista Derecho del Estado - Libros y Revistas - VLEX 868014263

The Economy, Stupid': Notes on a Continuing Conversation

AutorRoberto Gargarella
CargoLeo Spitz Professor of International Law, University of Chicago Law School (Chicago, Estados Unidos)
Páginas15-33
TOM GINSBURG*
“The Economy, Stupid”: Notes
on a Continuing Conversation**
“La economía, estúpido”: notas
para seguir conversando
For Roberto Gargarella
ABSTRACT
Roberto Gargarella has always placed distribution of access to political and
economic power at the center of the analysis. This article focuses on his argu-
ment that participation might be able to improve material inequality. It argues
that inequality can be confronted directly or indirectly, and that sometimes,
participation is not the best mechanism for addressing inequality. The article
draws on case studies from Japan and the Philippines to illustrate its argument.
KEYWORDS
Latin America, constitutions, comparative constitutional law, participation,
Japan, Philippines.
RESUMEN
Roberto Gargarella siempre ha colocado la distribución del acceso al poder
político y económico en el centro del análisis. Este artículo se centra en su
argumento de que la participación podría mejorar la desigualdad material.
Sostiene que la desigualdad puede ser enfrentada directa o indirectamente
y que, a veces, la participación no es el mejor mecanismo para abordar la
desigualdad. El artículo utiliza estudios de caso sobre Japón y Filipinas para
ilustrar su argumento.
* Leo Spitz Professor of International Law, University of Chicago Law School (Chicago,
Estados Unidos). Research Professor, American Bar Foundation. Contacto: tginsburg@uchicago.
edu orcid: 0000-0003-3128-3392.
** Recibido el 30 de mayo de 2020, aprobado el 4 de febrero de 2021.
Para citar el artículo: ginSburg, T. “The Economy, Stupid”: Notes on a Continuing Conversa-
tion. En Revista Derecho del Estado, Universidad Externado de Colombia. N.º 49, mayo-agosto
de 2021, 15-33.
doi: https://doi.org/10.18601/01229893.n49.03
Revista Derecho del Estado n.º 49, mayo - agosto de 2021, pp. 15-33
16 Tom Ginsburg
Revista Derecho del Estado n.º 49, mayo - agosto de 2021, pp. 15-33
PALABRAS CLAVE
América Latina, constituciones, derecho constitucional comparado, partici-
pación, Japón, Filipinas.
SUMMARY
Introduction. 1. Defining Democracy: A White Flag. 2. Direct or Indirect?
Rights as Insufficient. 3. Participation as the Panacea? 4. Asian Solutions. 4.1.
Japan and Land Reform. 4.2. The Philippines and Participatory Democracy.
Conclusion. References.
[E]ven though keeping within the bounds of legality, a few families might own
the land, thus having the exorbitant right to render the whole of humanity tribu-
tary to their will by this monopoly. In other words: the fate of the overwhelming
majority of humanity would depend on the goodwill of a very small minority, in
such a way that the right to live, which is consecrated by God and which is the
first of all rights, would be subordinated to the right to landownership, which is
consecrated by whom? By man!
Joseph Charlier, 1848
Surveying Latin America over the longue durée, economic inequality has
been a persistent fact in virtually every country, despite the region’s internal
diversity. Today it remains the most unequal region of the world, even as there
has been modest progress in this century. This profound inequality underpins
Gargarella’s magisterial overviews of the history of constitutionalism in the
region.1 His programmatic approach places distribution of access to political
and economic power at the center of the analysis.
Consider some basic facts: half of the twenty countries in the world with
the highest GINI coefficients are in Latin America.2 With the exception of
South Africa, the richest and largest economies on the list are all from the
region, including Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. While there has been some
growth in the size of the middle class this century, 30% of the region’s
population still lives below the poverty line.3 And by some measures, such
as the concentration of wealth in the top 1%, inequality may be widening.4
1 gargarella, r. The Legal Foundations of Inequality. Constitutionalism in the Americas
1776-1860. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010; gargarella, R. Latin American Con-
stitutionalism, 1810-2010. The Engine Room of the Constitution. New York: Oxford University
Press, 2013.
2 undp. Humanity Divided: Confronting Inequality in Developing Countries. New York: 2013.
3 cepal. Panorama Social de América Latina 2019. Santiago: Naciones Unidas, 2019.
Available at: https://www.cepal.org/es/publicaciones/44969-panorama-social-america-latina-2019

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