The role of the State in Latin America’s strategic options

The 1980s have witnessed a strong revival of interest in the role of the State in the economic development of the Third World in general. In the case of Latin America, the debate has centered on the question of the role of the State in strategies for overcoming the imbalances and other factors holding back development. In the course of this debate, however, several related but distinct sets of issues have become intermixed in a manner which has proved to be highly unproductive. These issues must therefore be disentangled before sense can be made of the debate.