LIST OF PANELS

This panel aims to debate papers about the State Capacity and Public Policy in Latin America through the "three i" approach. The idea is to contrast the institutional and behavior criteria related to the State Capacity, with the elements that emerged from society, in order to understand the influence of actors more and more demanding and committed, whose social demands are directly addressed to the States. The assumption is that, in order to respond these demands, the State Capacity is determined not only by its institutional structure and political interests but also by the structure and nature of the demands of the actors and coalitions that are addressed to the State. Thus, in order to debate this relationship between State and society through the concept of state capacity we propose an analysis by the "three i” approach. This theoretical framework ("three i”) is based on three criteria of public policy analysis: ideas, interests and institutions (Palier, Surel, 2005). The first criteria - ideas - relies on a cognitive and normative perspective, especially through the concepts of paradigm, frame of reference and advocacy coalition. The state capacity can be analyzed by this element through the definition of the cognitive and normative role of the State in the public field and the definition of the elements that build relations between the actors and the State in a particular public policy. The objective here is to understand how the State legitimates his action through a cognitive perspective in this context.  The second criteria of the "three i" approach identifies not only the interests of the actors (motivations, preferences, capacity for mobilization and strategies), but also the issues related to the collective action and the process of decision making. Through these criteria, state capacity allows to address an analysis about mechanisms of decision making and the particularities presented by the interests of the actors in Latin America.  Finally, the "three i" approach also considers the institutional dynamics through the relations between institutions and behavior of the actors and at the same time try to understand how institutions evolve. The institutional criteria is linked with state capacity, since it allows to analyze “the quality and coherence of political institutions” (Cardenas, 2010, p.3) and also issues of professionalization and state administrative capacity. This panel proposes to observe the configuration of actors present not only in the formulation and in the decision making of public policy but also in its implementation. It aims to analyze how the distribution of the power in the time of the decision will also define the policy implementation. The definition of the implementation influenced by the actors regards both the control of these spaces and the organizational issues arising from the professionalization of the state. If the State Capacity seems to be a relevant conceptual tool for the analysis of the current role of the State in Latin America, the contribution of the three dimensional approach is important, since it makes possible to understand, recognize and contrast all these dynamics. We encourage proposals that combine conceptual discussion and empirical analysis. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: social policy (social security, health care, social care, child protection, education policy), fiscal policy, cultural policy, development policy and environmental policy.

This panel aims to debate papers about the State Capacity and Public Policy in Latin America through the "three i" approach. The term State Capacity has been in most of the studies related to the institutional and bureaucratic capacity of the State or to the political interests present within the State that influence the implementation of the public policy (Geddes, 1994). This term has also been used to take into account the relationships and interactions between "Market Mechanism and State Intervention" (Cardenas, 2010) or as the ability of the State to give response to the needs of society, as defined by the World Bank (Tarassiouk, 2007). However, it seems that other factors, not related to the State itself but to the society, can also influence the state capacity on the public policies implementation. Thus, the idea is to contrast the institutional and behavior criteria related to the State Capacity, with the elements that emerged from society, in order to understand the influence of actors more and more demanding and committed, whose social demands are directly addressed to the States. The assumption is that, in order to respond these demands, the State Capacity is determined not only by its institutional structure and political interests but also by the structure and nature of the demands of the actors and coalitions that are addressed to the State. The gap between the development of political institutions and the administrative apparatus in one hand; and the social development in Latin America, characterized by new citizens demands in the other hand; invite us to address the ability of the State's response regarding this new configuration. Thus, in order to debate this relationship between State and society through the concept of state capacity we propose an analysis by the "three i” approach. This theoretical framework ("three i”) is based on three criteria of public policy analysis: ideas, interests and institutions (Palier, Surel, 2005). The first criteria - ideas - relies on a cognitive and normative perspective, especially through the concepts of paradigm, frame of reference and advocacy coalition. The state capacity can be analyzed by this element through the definition of the cognitive and normative role of the State in the public field and the definition of the elements that build relations between the actors and the State in a particular public policy. The objective here is to understand how the State legitimates his action through a cognitive perspective in this context.  The second criteria of the "three i" approach identifies not only the interests of the actors (motivations, preferences, capacity for mobilization and strategies), but also the issues related to the collective action and the process of decision making. Through these criteria, state capacity allows to address an analysis about mechanisms of decision making and the particularities presented by the interests of the actors in Latin America.  Finally, the "three i" approach also considers the institutional dynamics through the relations between institutions and behavior of the actors and at the same time try to understand how institutions evolve. The institutional criteria is linked with state capacity, since it allows to analyze “the quality and coherence of political institutions” (Cardenas, 2010, p.3) and also issues of professionalization and state administrative capacity.  Thus, this panel proposes to observe the configuration of actors present not only in the formulation and in the decision making of public policy but also in its implementation. It aims to analyze how the distribution of the power in the time of the decision will also define the policy implementation. The definition of the implementation influenced by the actors regards both the control of these spaces and the organizational issues arising from the professionalization of the state. If the State Capacity seems to be a relevant conceptual tool for the analysis of the current role of the State in Latin America, the contribution of the three dimensional approach is important, since it makes possible to understand, recognize and contrast all these dynamics. Bibliography:                    CARDENAS, Mauricio (2010). State Capacity in Latin America. Economía, vol10, nº 2 pp 1-45. GEDDES, Barbara (1996). Politician’s Dilemma: Building State Capacity in Latin America. University of California Press, California. PALIER  Bruno, SUREL Yves (2005). « Les « trois I » et l’analyse de l’État en action » in Revue française de science politique, vol. 55, n°1, février, p. 7-32. TARASSIOUK, Alexander. Estado y desarrollo. Discurso del Banco Mundial y una visión alternativa. En publicacion: Repensar la teoría del desarrollo en un contexto de globalización. Homenaje a Celso Furtado.  Vidal, Gregorio; Guillén R., Arturo.(comp).  Enero 2007.