State, Public Administration & Management in Chile: An Overview

Posted on Oct 11, 2024 in Social sciences

State, Public Administration & Management in Chile: An Overview

Solemn II Questionnaire

1. What is meant by State Entrepreneur? Develop its evolution in Chile since the early 1930s.

From 1938-1939, the Chilean state developed a capacity for state-led production, leading national economic efforts within an Import Substitution Industrialization (ISI) framework.

The State grew by aggregation.
Factors of production included capital, land, labor, and information technology. The state produced based on internal capacity, with minimal imports except for machinery, leading to low production at high costs.

Some State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in the period:

1939: Creation of the Corporation for the Promotion of Production (CORFO)
1944: Empresa Nacional de Electricidad (ENDESA)
1948: Compañía de Acero del Pacifico (CAP)
1950: Empresa Nacional del Petroleo (ENAP)
1952: Industria Nacional del Azúcar (IANSA)
1953: Banco del Estado de Chile (BancoEstado)
1950s: Laboratorio Chile, Pesquera Arauco, Insa, Chile Films, and Madeco
1960s: ENTEL and TVN
1966-1971: Chileanization and Nationalization of Copper
1970-1973: Nationalization process encompasses over 500 companies.

Relationship between State and Society: The State propelled businesses through borrowing, leading to increased external debt. The purchase of production capacity resulted in unprofitable companies, highlighting state inefficiency.

Public Enterprises were collectively responsible, but individually accountable to none.
Public enterprises faced criticism for:

Misuse of funds that could be allocated to more profitable social investments.
Deficiencies in corporate governance.
Lack of transparency and accountability.
Inefficiency.
Vulnerability to corruption.
Use as political spoils.

2. What is meant by State-Centrism Sociopolitical Matrix?

According to Manuel Antonio Garretón:

It’s understood as a constituent matrix of society.
The state is at the center of social, political, and economic events.
The main reference for collective action is the state.
It’s a matrix of overlapping (partially overcoming certain aspects) between the party system and social organization in tension with the state.
During this period, the expansion of state functions rarely involved restructuring or transformation.
The state is the organizer of the social and political spheres.
Economic development is inward-looking (ISI Model).
The state represents commitment.

3. What is ODEPLAN, when was it created, and what does it do? What is its importance within the Civil Service?

The Planning Office (Oficina de Planificación Nacional, ODEPLAN) was created on July 14, 1967. This functionally decentralized service emerged with its own assets and public legal personality, under the direct supervision of the President. It advises on all matters related to economic and social planning.

Its importance lies in being the first administrative reform effort in Latin America within the context of implementing managerialism and rational policies for public policy development.
Its function was to work on national development based on a regional subdivision, prioritizing technical aspects over political ones.

4. What are the principles and rationale for administrative reform and regional development through CONARA?

The regionalization currently governing Chile was implemented from 1974, initially through Decree No. 212 of 12/17/1973, under Augusto Pinochet’s government.

Regional Reform, developed through CONARA (National Commission on Administrative Regionalization), was based on the need to readjust the political-administrative division of the territory. Its objectives included:

A decentralized administrative organization with appropriate decision-making capacity at different territorial levels.
A hierarchy of territorial units.
Provision of authorities and agencies in each region with equal levels and powers.
Integration of all sectors through institutions that require their collaboration.

Background:

The national integration process could be achieved through:
- Balance between the use of natural resources, geographical distribution of the population, and national security, to establish foundations for a more effective and rational occupation of the territory.
- Real participation of the population and their commitment to regional and national goals.
- Equal opportunities to access the benefits the government provides.
The need for a balance between external and internal sovereignty, ensuring no empty spaces within the territory. This also aimed to discourage rural-urban migration, which the government believed created slums and led to frustrated citizens, misfits, criminals, and subversives.
Economic and social development goals required better use of land and resources.
Excessive economic concentration in cities like Santiago diverted considerable resources that could be invested in productive activities, enabling faster and regionally balanced economic growth.

Principles:

CONARA identified flaws in public administration and established the principles for Reform:

Consistency with government policies and plans, as it’s the administrative tool to enable them.
Integrated, meaning universal, involving the entire administrative area.
Gradual, reflecting phased implementation and planned action.
Centralized direction and decentralized execution according to established rules.
Flexibility, acknowledging different administrative realities and allowing its guidelines to be valid for any form of state organization.
Administrative Justice, ensuring efficient staff protection and administrative courts against administrative abuse.
Consistency in nomenclature and organization.
Simultaneity, allowing for parallel structural and functional changes.
Managerial Economics, maximizing the use of existing institutions.

5. What is Decentralization? Give an example.

Decentralization refers to transferring powers from the central administrative body to legally separate entities with legal personality, their own assets, and not hierarchically subordinate, but under its supervision.

Decentralization can be functional or territorial, depending on the legal and regulatory framework.
It’s functional when the President relinquishes a function, as with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
It’s territorial when the law delegates ministerial powers to the SEREMI in a region.

6. What is Devolution? Give an example.

Devolution is an administrative method where the law empowers a lower authority to make decisions subordinate to a higher authority. It can be functional or territorial.

At the government level, it occurs between the President and the Mayor, as the Mayor represents the President in the region.
The same happens between the Mayor and the Governor, with the Governor representing the Mayor in the province.

7. What are the SEREMI? What is their role in decentralization or devolution? Explain.

SEREMI stands for Regional Ministerial Secretary, representing the respective Minister in the region. While representing the Ministry, they are also a direct collaborator of the Mayor, subordinate in matters related to regional development, policy implementation, project coordination, and other regional government jurisdictions.

Regional ministries (Seremis) constitute a territorial decentralization of ministries, except for Interior, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and General Secretariat of the Presidency.
The SEREMI fulfills both deconcentrated and decentralized functions.
Regional Ministerial Secretaries must comply with technical instructions from their respective ministries, except as noted regarding the Mayor. In case of disagreement between the Mayor and the Minister, the President decides.

Functions of regional ministries:

Develop and implement regional policies, plans, and projects, coordinating with relevant sector bodies.
Study sectoral development plans with relevant agencies.
Prepare the proposed regional budget within their competence, coordinating with the Ministry.
Report to the Regional Government on the progress of the sector’s work program.
Carry out tasks assigned by their ministry, following the Minister’s instructions.
Coordinate, supervise, or oversee all state administrative agencies within their sector.
Perform other functions assigned by laws and regulations.
Exercise powers delegated by their respective Ministers.

8. What is meant by Subsidiary State?

The Subsidiary State aims to assume functions or activities that the private sector cannot or should not handle. Chile is a subsidiary state, establishing rights and guarantees for equal development, as enshrined in its Constitution, Articles 1 and 19.

Examples:

Article 1: Men are born free and equal in dignity and rights. The state is at the service of the individual and aims to promote the common good. It should help create social conditions that enable each member of the national community to achieve their greatest possible spiritual and material fulfillment, fully respecting the rights and guarantees established by this Constitution. It is the duty of the State to safeguard national security, protect the population and family, foster the strengthening of the latter, promote the harmonious integration of all sectors of the Nation, and ensure the right of individuals to participate with equal opportunities in national life.

Article 19: The Constitution guarantees all persons:

The right to life and to the physical and mental integrity of the person.
Equality before the law.
Equal protection of the law in exercising their rights.
Respect and protection of the privacy and honor of the individual and their family.
The inviolability of the home and all forms of private communication.
Freedom of conscience, the expression of all beliefs, and the free exercise of all cults not contrary to morals, good customs, or public order.
The right to personal freedom and individual security.
The right to live in an environment free of contamination.
The right to health protection.
The right to education.

9. What are the Public Service and what forms can they take from the point of view of their functionality and competencies?

Administrative bodies exist to meet collective needs regularly and continuously. They implement policies, plans, and programs approved by the President through the respective ministries, according to the law. Although they may be created to operate in all or part of a region, they remain subject to national policies and technical standards of their respective sector.

Public services can be centralized or decentralized, headed by a superior officer called a Director, unless otherwise provided by law.
Centralized or decentralized public services created for a specific region are subject to the supervision of the respective agency or Mayor, under the Ministry’s oversight.
Centralized public services operate under the legal personality and assets of the Treasury, dependent on the President through the corresponding Ministry.
Decentralized public services operate with legal personality and their own assets assigned by law, supervised by the President through the respective Ministry.
Decentralization can be functional or territorial.

10. Why can we say that the Civil Service is a science, a theory, and a practice (art)?

The Civil Service is a branch of Political Science.

It’s considered a science because it has a structured body of knowledge and a theory based on methodologies studying government at a specific time or comparing different public administrations’ performance.
It gained independence mid-century and has faced several crises as a science.
As a practice, it’s contextual (e.g., USA, France, Spain, Latin America). Each state or public administration operates according to its cultural-historical context.

11. What is POSDCORB?

POSDCORB, coined by Luther Gulick, represents the functions of an administrator: Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing, Coordinating, Reporting, and Budgeting.

12. What is the reality of public administration in Latin America according to the analysis of CLAD in the late 1990s?

According to CLAD (Latin American Center for Development Administration), state reform and Public Administration must consider three main issues: consolidating democracy, economic growth, and reducing social inequality.

Reality of Public Administration in Latin America:

Failure to address these issues threatens the social legitimacy of current state reform projects.
In several Latin American cases, Public Administration coexisted with patrimonial bureaucracy and patronage in appointing senior positions.
Professionalization: Qualified and continuously trained public officials are needed, protected from political interference, well-paid, and motivated.
Administrative Law is extremely rigid, hindering Public Administration’s flexibility.
Several governments designed reform projects but lacked the capacity to implement them.
Corruption, a global phenomenon, has increased in Latin America.
CLAD highlights the need for robust performance appraisal systems.
CLAD suggests improving judicial control, as civil rights and the effectiveness of the law are not fully respected by the public sector.

According to CLAD, Latin America experienced a major crisis in the 1980s and sought recovery throughout the 1990s. There was awareness of past reform mistakes, leading to the need for management reform. The State needed to be capable of driving economic development, reducing inequality, and consolidating democracy.

13. What is the State Administrative Reform developed from 1993 and in the second half of the 1990s (Aylwin and Frei Ruiz-Tagle administrations)? Develop its main points.

State Administrative Reform: Aylwin Period

The Aylwin administration focused on creating democratic institutionalization through consensus and agreements (growth with equity).
Municipalities were reconstituted and elected by popular vote (1991).
Regional Governments were created (1992).
A consensual Tax Reform was implemented (1992).
Judicial Reform began.
The Health Reform Program (Health Promotion) was initiated.
Social institutionalization within state administration was created:
- MIDEPLAN (Ministry of Planning and Cooperation)
- INJUV (National Institute of Youth)
- SERNAM (National Women’s Service)
- CONADI (National Corporation for Indigenous Development)
- FOSIS (Fund of Solidarity and Social Investment)

State Administrative Reform: Frei Ruiz-Tagle Period

Focus on modernizing State Administration.
The Interministerial Committee for Public Management Modernization was created in 1994.
Reform focused on the Budget Directorate of the Ministry of Finance (DIPRES).
Financing of social policies (pro-growth policy).
Cross-sectoral work began (extreme poverty) with PNSP (National Plan for Overcoming Poverty) and CNSP (National Council for Overcoming Poverty).
Emphasis on education (Reform).
Creation of ChileBarrio (Social Policy).
Privatization of Health enterprises*.

14. What are the characteristics that the public sector must adopt to meet the challenges of modernity?

Revisionism regarding the state’s role emerged.
The challenge in the region was State Reform and Public Management.
It began under the Frei administration with the Ministerial Council for Modernization.
Progress was made in building a citizen-centric state by improving the quality of public services.

Considerations:

State size: According to Ignacio Pérez Salgado, it should have a national presence, be strong, efficient, and have regulatory and negotiating capacity.
The state targets consumers as customers.
The new public manager plays a key role in Management Improvement Programs.

Advances in building a citizen-centric state by improving the quality of public services.

A static state is insufficient; a dynamic state is needed, capable of interacting with economic, social, and political actors, transitioning from a static to a networked state.
Services are geared towards successful delivery of benefits, goods, and services under established principles.

PRYME Principles:

Transparency: Government and public administration actions must be transparent.
Efficiency: Evaluate service delivery quality using specific criteria.
Equity: Growth with equality.
Participation: The state operates in a network, involving stakeholders, including service users.

The state must interact with people as service users, adopting private sector logic.

The Citizen Participation Law was born from the need for users to participate in managing and controlling public management, arising from concerns about corruption.

Three established and interconnected pillars:

E-Government
Process Redesign
Quality Management and Good Practices

15. What is PMG?

PMG (Programa de Mejoramiento de la Gestión, or Management Improvement Program) emerges as a national strategy to apply minimum standards for efficient management of public funds. They are a response to:

Establishing a Human Resources policy (focused on users and dignifying public service with ethical values).
Developing policies that enhance decision-making (effectiveness and efficiency).
Developing accountabilities.

Implementation began gradually under the Frei administration in 1993 (reaching 70 state agencies by 1997).

It’s an application of Integral Control Panels or Balanced Scorecard from private management.
They are structured with a logic of interrelated subsystems.
They use a logic of Management Areas.

Associated with these 11 areas are defined management systems. These systems and subsystems must be integrated into the annual PMG proposed by each service:

Human Resources
User Attention
Planning / Management Control
Internal Audit
Financial Management

Law No. 19,553, Mapping Modernization

For the first time in the history of the state administration in Chile, economic incentives are applied to public sector productivity. Reform is made with the agreement of the unions in the sector

16 .- What is the Senior Management Service System?

The Public Address system high is possibly the most radical reform of how many have integrated state modernization agenda in Chile, and places us in the forefront at the regional level in the field. The agreements reached between the government and the opposition in January 2003 (following the crisis MOP GATE) gave rise to this system. Its main objective is to restrict the discretionary authority in the provision of management positions with the aim of improving the quality of the services the government provides its citizens.
This system is countercultural, transiting from old habits befitting a political ethos, as cronyism and cuoteo in public office (payment of debts and political commitments) towards the creation of spaces for talent, convened in open competition based on merit and suitability.
System Actors: The Directorate of Civil Service, its director is the sole official confidence Pres. Rep of (is a contradiction; office did not compete) is chairing the Council of Senior Management Publica, an autonomous body and plural.
Notwithstanding the achievements, the system has flaws, such as, low pay, stringent performance conditions, delays in selection processes, excessive bureaucratic controls, absence of induction and support policies of the appointees, and a large public exhibition have conspired to now have enough candidates of excellence.

17 .- Develop key points of Public Management Approach called New Public Management or NPM

Surge in developed countries (Canada, New Zealand – Social Reform -, United Kingdom, Australia – cutting and pragmatic managerialist)
It is the adoption of flexible organizational models, decentralization of activities, and the introduction of market mechanisms (competition among public agencies, outsourcing, modernization of administrative arrangements)
Change the government from the public
It integrates the logic of private management of public management
It is supported by the OECD

According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the NGP emerges to face the following challenges:

Budget deficit in public finances
Dissatisfaction of social demands
Inefficiency in managing programs
Pressure to achieve high levels of competitiveness in the global economy
Internationalization of economic issues, social and cultural

Criticism of the NGP
The Public Adm. affected in their structures, systems and practices.
Amendment to the Government of Public
Blurs the boundaries of governance.
Public Adm. subjected to a market logic.
It is a narrow approach to management.
Emphasis on cost reduction.
It promotes equity, sustainability, ethics and participatory democracy.

18 .- Develop the main points of focus for Public Management and Public Governance GP called

Also called Governance and Public Governance. Surge in 1997 with the World Development Report, World Bank
For overcoming the shortcomings of NGP
It focuses on capacity building of Government with the participation of stakeholders in the discussion / public policy management
Work with Network Model (economic – social)
Emphasis on the relationship between State – Society
Approach and institutional emphasis (the building of institutions for a capable public sector)

Foundations of Effective Public Administration under the GP approach
Develop a strong government capacity to formulate and coordinate PP. (Involving stakeholders)
Develop systems to provide efficient and effective services
Establish a system of civil service staffed by motivated and capable, with a system of recruitment and promotion based on merit, fair remuneration and a strong mystical work

Public Sector Efficiency by GP Approach
A strong capacity to formulate macroeconomic and strategic policies
Mechanisms to delegate, discipline and political debate between government agencies
Institutionalized linkages with stakeholders outside government, they increase transparency and accountability, promoting the exchange of information

Institutional strengthening is designed to achieve efficient and effective governments, and relies on strategies that bring the state to society, so that the State may:
Respond to social demands
Articulate the diversity present in the Society
Encourage Citizen Participation
Through partnerships between state, business and civic organizations.

Public criticism of Government:
It is more flexible than the NGP.
Gives more slack to the design of policy options (service delivery and management).
Change Management for the concept of Governance
Excessive emphasis on coordination
Opting for the improvement of the bureaucratic model
The vision of citizen participation is purely instrumental and depoliticized.

19 .- Develop key points of the approach called Social Management Public Management or GS.

It is a new management approach applied to Programs (policies) Social
Surge in Latin America for the need to manage social policy goals of social equity (equity) and progressive cutting
It refers to a body of knowledge and emerging practices that support the involvement of social actors involved in resolving the problems that impede the social development (Kliskberg, 1997)
It moves by its own logic (social)
It works with logic or participatory involvement of stakeholders requires management skills for managing conflict and reaching agreements
There is an emphasis on accountability mechanisms and transparency of management
It requires an ethical commitment to developing country

State, Public Administration & Management in Chile: An Overview