Decentralization and subnational politics in Latin America

Research on decentralization and subnational politics in Latin America gained traction in the 2000s. In this endeavour, institutional approaches appeared to be the dominant analytical lens, mirroring the cross-regional interest in institutional change in the developing, mostly democratizing world. Important as these research efforts were in producing theoretical advances, a budding sense of déjà vu is emerging on some ontological arguments about the intrinsic value and lineal effects of formal institutions. In this chapter, we contribute to this critical debate by assessing the notions of stagnating and becoming subnational politics, in federal and unitary countries, respectively. I contrast the limits of federal de facto centralization in de jure decentralized polities with the promise of unitary decentralization as a means for overcoming ethnic and identity conflicts in Latin America. Finally, I reflect on future avenues of research for addressing these two paradoxical institutional developments in Latin America that can potentially enrich current debates on comparative decentralization.