Conclusions

Abstract

Like other countries in Latin America, Bolivia has undergone a dual transformation since the early 1980s: the establishment of a democratic system of government after nearly two decades of military and authoritarian regimes; and the mutation of a highly statist economy into a much more liberal one. These achievements have brought with them a period of relative political and economic stability which stands in stark contrast to the country’s turbulent past. This ‘dual transition’ was facilitated by favourable external and domestic circumstances. However, it also owes much to the policies pursued by successive governments since 1982. In the late 1980s, Bolivia carried out a number of adjustment policies that helped reorient the economy, taking advantage of the changed political circumstances brought about by the successful conquest of hyperinflation. Then in the mid-1990s, a series of far-reaching and innovative ‘second-generation’ reforms were carried out, geared towards consolidating the new economic model and tackling some of the country’s more deep-rooted structural problems. The beginning of a new decade provides a good vantage point from which to assess what has been achieved and what needs to be done to make Bolivia a viable democracy.