Beyond the Washington Consensus Promoting Economic Growth and Minimizing the Threat of Violence in Latin America through Social Development

Abstract

In this thesis, I examine the role social development plays in the successes and failures of Washington Consensustype neoliberal economic growth strategies throughout Latin America, as well as the effects of growth on levels of political violence in the region. I also analyze the role of targeted social spending in legitimizing the implementation of structural adjustment programs across all regime types. Finally, I use a discriminate analysis to divide the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean into two distinct geographic and economic subregions where separate development strategies can be optimized. I perform a Varimax rotated factor analysis on the universe of data and on two subregions to determine those prospective constraints most closely associated with growth potential throughout Latin America. Next, I perform an Ordinary Least Squares regression on 17 Latin American and Caribbean Countries (19702000) to determine the influence of targeted social spending on the implementation of structural adjustment programs and another to determine the influence of economic growth and inequality on levels of political violence in Latin America (19962008). Finally, I use a discriminate analysis to challenge the World Economic Forum classifications of several Latin American countries, therefore providing better targeted development strategy recommendations in each.