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ARCHfVO dp DOCUMENTOS

Documentos de Seminario

d1 o*.
.. í,

IDEOLOGICAL ELEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF FORMULATING
POPULATION POLICIES

Margarita María Errázuriz

DS/11
35.
1976.

Paper prepared for "The University
Seminar on Latin American Population",
sponsored by the University
of California at Los Angeles,
Los Angeles, May 13-14, 1976

I N D E X

.gage
INTRODUCTION
I.

II.

.....

DEMOGRAPHIC DYNAMICS DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES AND POLITICAL
IDEOLOGIES... ___ .........
................
1. Demographic Dynamics and development strategies...... .......
2. Development strategies and political ideologies..............

5
g

IDEOLOGICAL ASPECTS IN THE LATIN AMERICAN GOVERNMENTS'POSITIONS
WITH RESPECT TO DEMOGRAPHIC PHENOMENA
.... .

III. POLITICAL ACTORS IN THE PROCESS OF POPULATION POLICY FORMULATION
IV.

1

IDEOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS FOR THE FUTURE FORMULATION OF
POPULATION POLICIES IN LATIN AMERICA.
....

16

22

IDEOLOGICAL ELEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF FORMULA "
POPULATION POLICIES

Los

ngeles

Califorr . < v:„ /A:
1, -

by
Margarita Maria Errazuriz

Introduction
The objective of this paper is to raise some points for discussion in
this Seminar around the relationship between political ideologies ani popu­
lation policies, by way of analyzing what governments in Latin America have
allegedly set themselves to do in relation to their specific population
problems ;

the general political viability of population objectives and

policies within specific political systems in the region;

and the per­

spectives of adopting and implementing such policies in the near future,
under the light of recent political developments i . this part of the world.
r
Based on analyses and studies recently done, or even in process of
development, at the Population Policies Sector of the Latin American Deao■/
j
graphic Centre (C3LADE), — this paper attempts a brief summary of c
u
;
21

aspects treated in them, —

highlighting particularly those related

o its

central focus of interest.
1/ The author is a researcher in the Population Policies Sector of CÎÎLADE. Th
ideas here developed, however, are of her personal responsibility and do n
necessarily represent those of the institution to which she belong,s.
2j Although references to the sources used will ba found throughout the foots
copies of some of the research papers taken as basic material for this pap
will be distributed to the participants in the Seminar.

The subject matter of these notes is obviously not new.

Its emergence

could be traced back even to the formation of the first city-states and to
the political writings of the classical Greek thinkers.

What is .i . owev. •.
e
•

is the increasing importance which the analysis of ideological, considérations
is being given, in the area of modern social sciences applied to the study of
population-related matters, when dealing with the study of the formulation and
implementation of population policies.
In Latin America, the subject has been increasingly treated am

discussed

3/
by social scientists in the last decade or so, — centering the attention on
the particular population problem chosen as action target - population growth
and on the role of governments in manipulating those demographic variable;?
which impinge upon the tendency and change of such a phenomenon.
For a greater understanding of the way in which the problem has been posed
it is interesting to quote Sociologist Armand Mattelart, who was particularly
worried with the ideological implications of the problem in general and of
birth control specially.

He states that birth control is a double-edge

weapon, in the following sense:
Some countries that have opted for austerity and responsibility,
adopt it (birth control? in order to successfully achieve their
social revolution, retarded by a too rapid population growth rate.
Others have found in it an easy medical prescription and leave un­
touched the archaic social structures, in which the lower classes
find their aspirations blocked". AJ

3/ See Errazuriz, Margarita M.. El tratamiento del problema de po' l -.ciar en
b
la producción de los cio.tíficos sociales en Chile (1136-1972;, lELÃBE,
Serie A, N°126, September, 1974, particularly pp. 65 ff.
kj In "Prefiguración de la ideología burguesa", in Cuadernos de la Realidad
Nacional, N°l, September, 1969, pp. 78-118.

~ 3 -

According to Mattelart, for most of the countries of Latin America the
undertaking of birth control, measures means the strengthening of the establish­
ment and the weakening of the phenomenon of political radicalisation
Beyond the political and ideological meaning of the previous coisaents, it
seems clear that what is assumed is, on the one hand, that most of tie countries
of the region face a "population problem", defined in terms of a desequilibrium
between their population growth rates and their levels of economic aid social
development, and, on the other, that the means to solve this problem are chosen
rather independently from the specific strategies of development opted for or
followed by the different countries.
It is in these two general areas, however, where we can find son a of the
more meaningful ideological implications for the process of population policy
formulation.

For, on the one si.de, the definition of a set of interrelated

variables as constituting a "problem" and the decision about which or a c f them
is considered as an "obstacle" or main "cause" of the problem imply the ex­
istence, more or less explicit, of a theoretical and ideological framework
which gives meaning and sense to those interrelations.
On the other side, the nature of the relationship which is established
between population growth and socio-economic development as well as the way
in which its problematic character is tackled depend, to a great extent, on
the theoretical and ideological standpoint from which the processes of de­
velopment and social change in general are conceptualized.

This, of course,

impinges upon the means chosen to face the problem as it has been defined.

„

4

■
■

For, there is a variety of possibilities in terms of the means to act upon the
"obstacles" or "causes" of the problem, particularly in the case of population
phenomena, which are highly sensitive to a wide range of economic and social
factors.

Thus, it is possible, for instance, to choose some direct means -

as birth control - or some indirect means, which may go from the adoption of
social policies affecting the whole of the social structure to the adoption
of policies which might produce drastic structural reforms.

These options

and decisions would heavily depend on the particular conception that :hose
in power would have of the problem of development and the strategies favored
in order to solve it.
From this set of angles from which the ideological aspects of population
policy formulation could be analyzed, this paper will confine itself : in
o
analysis of the ideological tenets implicit in the Latin American governments
explicit proposals on the kind of population policies they would have implement­
ed in their countries, from the standpoint of their specific development strategics.
Given the general relationship between development strategies and popu­
lation policies and the ideological elements implicit in it, the analysis of
the Latin American governments’ proposals just mentioned will be preceded by
a brief account of the nature of such ideological elements of that relation­
ship.

Then, the possibility that the governments’ population policy proposals

may become implemented is discussed in the light of the findings of a research
done in 1972 for the Chilean case.

And, lastly, the future perspectives for

5

the formulation and implementation of population policies in the Latin American
region are estimated, given the findings of the above mentioned research and
the dominant political trends in the region at the present histórica] juncture.

I.

DEMOGRAPHIC DYNAMICS, DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES
AND POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES

1. Demograph ¡c Dynamics and Development Strategies
.
Among Latin American scholars, the study of demographic variables and of
the economic and social factors which determine their dynamics has increasing­
ly left aside that analytical perspective which centers around the study of
the effects of isolated social or economic variables on the demographic dynamics.
Instead, they have tended to emphasize that such dynamics are rather the con­
sequence of particular clusters or configurations of specific socio-economic
factors which influence differentially the different social sectors or strata
»
5/
which make up the social structure of a society. —
This type of analysis seems particularly relevant for the study of the Laten
American societies, where social scientists have come to agree on the existence
of highly heterogeneous economic and social structures, resulting frcm the
articulation of different modes of production, which have their origin in the
process of change that the dominant mode of production necessarily undergoes.

5/ For example, see CELADE, Políticas de población y la familia; el caso lati­

noamericano , Santiago de Chile, 1974, Serie A, N°124. Urzüa, Raúl, La Inves­
tigación en ■tercias Sociales y las Políticas de Población: auge: acias para
.
:
la programación de actividades de PISPAL, Santiago de Chile, April, 1.974,
mimeo»

ò -

In this way, the different economic and social structures and the particu­
lar configuration of factors affecting the demographic behaviour of the social
units which are part of them assume particular characteristics depending on the
specific historical stage and type or mode of development of a given social
formation.
Therefore, the analysis of the structural dimensions which condition the
dynamics of demographic variables, is inseparable from the study of the develop­
ment strategy implemented in a country, which shapes the form that the process
of change of those dimensions takes, as well as their effects upon specific
components of the social structure.
The advancement in the scientific knowledge of this area has relevant
consequences for the formulation of population policies; The first and most
*
important one is the understanding of the population problem; then, the formulatio
of policies and the selection of the means for their implementation in the broad­
er scope of the development strategi.es followed.

2.

Development Strategies and 'olitical Ideol•> .r
P

In order to establish the relationship between development strategies and
political ideologies and, through this, to clarify the nexuses between popu­
lation policies and ideologies, it is necessary to refer at least to two aspects
of fundamental interest.
In the first place, development strategies always have as a referent a given
social model which is ideologically defined.

The be ic constitutive alements

- 7 -

which inspire the ideology and shape the social model
set of values which are considered to be absolute;

are relatedmainly to a
a concept about thetype o

society in which those values could become concretised and a definition of the
means which, according to those values, would allow to reach the proposed sime
According to these elements, ideology plays the role of legitimazing the de­
velopment strategy that is adopted.
In the second place, there are some politicalvariablem that c nd:
:

: :n

the adoption of a given development strategy as well as the emphasi; placed
upon different components of such a strategy and, through this, the adoption
and characteristics of certain social policies. —
The option for a certain kind of development strategy depends on the
characteristics of the power structure and on the particular functioning of
the specific political system of a given social formation.

The composition

or internal structure of the social class which has the hegemonic c nt o
>
the society and the variety

of

of interests corresponding to its different

fractions play a central role.
In this case, the government, as the visible entity which formulates the
development strategy, is only the instance which formalizes the reproduction
6/ More details about thÍ3 subject are found in Correa, German ano González,
Gerardo, Actores políticos y población; El c.-. chileno, October 1974,
s..
pp. S ff, (draft manuscript).
JJ For a more elaborated treatment of these aspects, see Correa, German,
"Estrategias de Desarrollo, Poder y Población1 , paper presented at the
Seminar on Political Structure and Population Policies, organized by
CELADE and sponsored by PISPAL (Santiago de Chile, May 1975), particular­
ly its revised version, to be published with the proceedings of that Semine

- 8 -

of the

conditions

which allow a class

to

maintain its hegemonic control

over society.
For this reason, the most significant element to understand .he relation­
ship between a given development strategy and the political ideology behind

,

is t( analysis of the nature of the dominant class and of their class Ínteres ts,
he
inserted in a particular power structure anc acting within i g ' e
:v.

jolitical

system.
It is important to stand out the relation between d n .
o » inant c.'. s, power
aa
structure, and political system.

The distance between the interests of the

dominant class and the interests expressed by the dominant ideology, as well
as the distance between the formulation of development strategies and
policies and the concrete implementation of those strategies and ¡oficies,
are explained precisely by the composition of the power structure and the
nature of the political system,
The distance existing between these phenomena, in spite of the ideológica1
domination exerted by the hegemonic class, is due to the fact that the political­
ly strategic aim of the dominant class is to keep the power position it holds,
subordinating to such aim the economic and social objectives of the nation as
such.

This, however, is not done without cost for the hegemonic class since,

being a part of a particular power structure in which other social forces and
political actors have a share of power, it finds itself compelled to negotiate
such strategic aim in varying degrees.

At the same time, this class sees

itself constrained by the nature of the political system in which it inactions,
in as much as such system establishes the "rules of the game" which >cvern the
performance of the political retors who ¿re part of it.
In this way, there seem

to be clear the main elements which ha/e to be

taken into ac*fcount for the analysis of the ideological aspects which.play $
role in the process of formulation population policies.

First, the oloae

relationship between population policies and development strategies.

Then

the ideological components which frame the definition of a given â&x 2!oament
strategy.

Later, the analysis of the ideological elements which intervene

through the power structure and the political system, in the ;om«k:ior, o':
a policy, establishing the rank of possibilities within which a development
strategy or a particular eat of public policies cat. be turnad into p:::;icai
actions.
In the light of these analytical elements, it seems to be interesting to
review the positions of the. Latin American governments with respect ; the
o
different population problems they face.

On the basis of those elemmta and

on that derived from the general knowledge we have about the historical and
political reality of these countries, the analysis can be made of th
al tenets behind the development strategies of the countries

f the

ideologic­
egion

and of the governments' stance in relation to different population aspects.

II. IDEOLOGICAL ASPECTS IN THE IAT IN AMERICAN
GOVERNMENTS’ POSITIONS >7ITH RESPECT TO DEM .•7.PÏÏIC HP.L-ÍQMENA

V,/

The social scientists’ propositions about the relationship between
demographic dynamics end development strategies seem to have been duly trien
into account by officialdom in the region, considering the agreements adopted
by governments in the meetings held on the occasion of the World booulation
Year.

This may be proved by the fact that one of the. modification s introduced

to the proposal for a World Population Plan of Action -prepared by the United
Nations Secretary General and presented to the consideration of t a govern­
l
ments of the world i . Bucharest- was that of insisting on the idea hat the
p
emphasis placed on the economic nod social facto, r determining demographic
.
dynamics leads finally to stand out the need for
9/
population policies into development policies.

complete insertion of

At the same time, as a consequence cf these recommendations, in tl
Second Latin American Meeting on Population, which was held in Me: ico in 1975 ;
general proposals were made i terms of stimulating the creation «f na ior-í!
'
entities responsible for population policies, standing out the need of placing
them within the govemme 'fel administrative structure at a level which would
c.
allow them to formulate population policies duly integrated into the general
development policy and to • ¡ v enough decision capacity as to make *os9ibla
.e
the implementation of inter-sectovial policies .

8/ This section has bean elaborated mainly on the basis of a work done by
Gonzalez, Gerardo and Errãzuriz, Margarita M., "Año Mundial de Población",
■n Notas de Población, CELADE, diciembre 1975, Vol. 9, pp. 75-r 3
*
-.
9/ See', WPPA, 94.

' 11 ■
It Is thus sufficiently clear that scientific thought as well as political
decisions agree on the close i n r e l a t i o n existing between demographic dynamics
and development stratégies»

Beyond these general recommendations the governments of the region made
concrete statement* in relation to the characteristics which in each country
.
assumes the behavior of the demographic variables.

Thus, the more debated

subject in those meetings was whether population growth is or is not an obstacle
for national development.

The speeches of the government delegates :r those

opportunities allow us to observe that the positions on this matter ' ary
r
considerably, what can be expl ained, in part, by the. different demographic
situations of the countries and, in part by the different emphasis given to
different aspects of development.

The Cuban Government, for instance, expressed that population growth fas
not been an obstacle :or their development.

Panama, on its side, even thong

admitting that the ■tature, of its demographic evolution has resulted in . n extreme­
a
ly young population age structure -with obviosly unfavorable results for product: on
and with a constant pressure on its raair social services- pointed ou: the fact
that the most intense demographic growth of the country took
with the highest economic growth rate of its history.

lace together

This would of course make

highly relative the character of obstacle to development that could be attribute,
to population growth.

Both countriess Cuba and Panama, emphasized tie effects

of the dependency relations on the problems of developments, considering them as
determinants of the relative backwardness suffered by cha countries >f the regie .
In their view, to attribute this backwardness to rapid demographic growth was
equivalent to evade the main cau3e of the problem.

- 12 -

On the other side,, the governments of countries such as Colombia and
Dominican Republic referred to the character "? : vicious circle
the relationship between the dynamics of popu'.
of their respective countries.

.on gro

h

talas
nvsloumer;

Dominican Republic did not hesitate i .
r

q ia li

"that problem (rate of demographic growth) as * factor obstructive to mtion-f
10 /
development".

At the opposite extreme are locategovernments such as tloe
Argentinas, which assign a positive value to population growth.

oi:

f.raail . i
d

In the par tier lar

case of Argentina its government considers that its main task is to completai1
;
populate its territory in order to make the whole of its resources productive.

This aim has a central political value, since i . is believed " h the wo* Id
t
shortage of resources will at the end subordinate the "rich count'ite'1 to the
"poorer countries" in which, providentially, the greatest concent* étions of
materials are found.

t í

:
c

Brazil, on its side, focuses the role of population in

development, emphasizing its productive importance rather than its consumption
weight, which leads them to conclude that
factor in the development ecuation".

an increasing population is a positive

"hese countries vi aw the growth of t . e »
li

brut geographical product as an indicator of their development process.

10/ Quotations appearing in this section have been taken from the speeches of
the delegates from the governments of the region given at the Second Latir
American Meeting on Population, held in Mexico. See CEPAL. Informe de la
Segunda Reunion Latinoamericana sobre Población, Doc. ST/CEPAl/Conf. 54/L.9,

- 13 ~

Ecuator assigna also a positive value to r
into consideration the scale economies that ax
lation.

td pop'hk -on ero- fh, t . r '
.
ah
lowed by t i increasing popu­
a

This f in their view, would contribute to overcome vhat thíy esteem to
j

be an "insufficient (national) market".

Therefore, it is clear that the role attributed to population growth in
terms of the development process varies according to how the different nstr.
governments conceptualize their problem of devoir iraent ant , .e h-'cr
.
which they relate with demographic dy.

or

::

From the brief references made to their positions on this matter end from
what we know about these countries, it seems clear that in such a tonceptunl
tion there are strong ideological influences.

Brazil and Argentina ¡ r d their
:.

longstanding historical value-objective of becoming suoconfinental powers, 0
and its drive for building a socialist independent sociétés 'a m ia and its
’
drive for conquering national independence and sovereignity, and s on.
i

The

referents of such values have, of course, some historical and empirical concre­
teness but, nevertheless, they still are values ideologically orgaí. ir.ed and
translated into the governments’ positions.

A more complete view of the position of the governments of the region in
reference to their fertility level, degree of urban concentration, aid interna­
tional migration may be appreciated in Table i.

It may be observe/ that there

is a higher degree of agreement among governments in relation tc tie problem of
urban concentration than with respect to that of Fertility .evels
consensus may be easily explained on the basis of two main reasons

-Vch

- IA -

- the problem of population distribution seems to be a more id »elogicaiiy
neutral problem than the problem of population growth; and

- the urbanisation process -which goes together with the procejs of dejen
dent capitalist development- takes on particularly critical îharaeteriotics in the region., depending on the stage of development an ! the
historical moment of each country.

However* in spite of the crucial acutenessof the problem* the recognition,
of its existence is not necessarily followed by the formulation of
at solving it in an integral way, as it will bs seen later on,

jo lic ie s

e:t
i,

d

Tabic 1

LATIN AMERICAN G0VERK14ËHTS* POSITIONS ON FERTILITY LEVELS,
URBAN CONCENTRATION AND INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION AS DEVELOPED
IN THEIR OFFICIAL STATEMENTS AT THE SAN JOSE AND MEXICO MEETINGS ON POPULATION

Urban Concentration

Fertility
Country

Acceptable

Insufficient

Excessive

1

A

Argent ina

Bolivia
Brasil
Colombia
Costa Rica
Cuba
Chile
Ecuador
El Salvador
Guatemala
Haiti
Honduras
México
Nicaragua
Par.aná
Perú
Rep. Dominicana
Uruguay
Venezuela

—
—

X
(X)

y

r
r
A

(x)

-

V
X
-

-

V
y
*
V

(í)
V
X
V
.
g
.
. X
(X)
y
r

(Í)

X

X
(X)
X
y
—

.

-

2

X
-

»T
T*
A.

10

Excessive
'r
*
E
*
V
«f
ÿ

«t
M

X

4

TOTAL

Acceptable

2

13 ‘

International Migration
Emigration
Inmigration
To Discour age To Allow To Encourage To Restrain To St i , a aie
rrl
Argent in a
3oli\ãa
Brasil
Colombia
Costa Rica
Cuba
Chile
Ecuador
F 1 Salvador
Guatemala
Haiti
Honduras
México
Nicaragua
Panamá
Perú
Rep. Dominicana
Uruguay
Venezuela

X1
-

X
-

~

-

—

—

—

-

«»
M

»

-

—

-

-

(X)

X

•Í
+

-

-

;-

«*
•«
-

—

—

—

—

-

-

—

A

-

•*
-

-

—

-

—

-

—

—

—

X
-

-

-

X
—
-

-

—

(x)

—

—

—

.

»

X

-

—

-o
»
—

4
2
(X; Information implayed from the text

T A T AT.

•

-

-

—

—

2

'i

III. POLITICAL ACTORS IN THE PROCESS OF POPULATION POLICY FOBHULATI' I
:

Governments' statements and decisions do not necessarily have
correspondence with actual policies and actions.

. lirect

The possibility that official

statements become concrete policier; deportes >n i r political -rial'll .tr cl the
proposed governmental actions.

Such viability, in turns, is conditioned by the

composition of the power structure and the position that the political forces
which control the government have within it as well as by che nature of the
political system within which it operates the political doc.1 sion-ma ;iag -coaeee

In this sense., a public policy is a kind of negotiate ’ end product which
probably embodies the main political and ideological orientation of the for s ;
in government, although not exclusively so, since it also incorporates, at leaei
in part, the demands and interests of other political forces and actors.

This

is particularly true, we think, for a democratic political system, where- nego­
tiation and coalition politics are the main rules of the game.

It seems, therefore, relevant for the subject, we are dealing w - t to tal. ;
.h
a look at the way in which this phenomenon would operate and the impact it
would have on the formulation of population policies. To do this, se arc going
to present some of the results of a research dote in Chile ;; ]972- /2 or
L

ñ -tr'
.o..

,

in the Formulation of Population Policies in Chile, between 1958-1973".

A part

of such a project was a serie.3 cf interviews with the leaders of tfca aoro xsprs
sentative political parties of the country and it is to this part to which :
e
will refer in the next pages.

11/ The report on this part of the study was done by Correa, German and Gcmzãle
Gerardo, Op. cit. A summary of the main findings appears in Gear ales. Gera
dof Political actors end. popnlab r :;
i
democratic
s stj, paper
\
presented to the Population Policy Research Program Conference, Leij.sgics
Italy, May 25, 1975.

- 17 -

One of the more telling findings in relation to the point we are trying
to make is given around the problem of the unbalanced spatial distribution
of the population in the Chilean territory.
I . spite of deep political cleavages existing in Chile
n

t :

tire

the research, there was a rare consensus among n11 of the political leaders »
irrespective of their party affiliations about the fact that the intensity
of rural-urban migration just as the excessive growth of the capital city
-Santiago- have had highly negative effects, both for the rural areas as
for the capital itself.

X2 /

However, i Administration in Chile, with t.
t
l

possible exception of that of Eduardo : ai (1S64-1970) has ever fcrrulcief
and embarked itself in the implementation of a policy oriented to decrease
11/
the migratory flow toward Santiago. —

12/ Among these negative effects,
political leaders pointed up
- de-population of the less developed areas;
- relative over-population in the cities which is not productively ab­
sorbed, giving place to the emergence if a marginal social stratum,
characterized by unemployment, subemployment and extremely pour living
conditions ;
- spoilage of the urban environment;
- increasing occupation of the best agricultural land for urban settlement s
.
Sea Correa,German and Gonzalez. Gerardo, op. cit^. p.21.
13/ During Frei’s Administration a policy of regional development was announce!,
and even put tc practice, which had as a central - >ject:.ve the creation of
conditions in the provinces and rural areas which would help to stop or
decrease the population outflow from these areas as well as to slot, down
SantiagoSs growth. This policy was not successful and the growth rate of
Santiago continued increasing. In the opinion of Frei (one of the inter­
viewées) , such failure was due to the fact that the policy was not as
integral and intense as the complexity and magnitude of the problem re­
quired. See Ibid, pp. 129j ff.

- 18 -

It is important to emphasize that: although political leaders agreed
on the existence of this problem and on its acuteness, they showe 1 relevant
disagreements on the causes of

t.

Tac analysis of thei. cvirionv o . ihio
r

matter clearly shows that the main reason for this divergence in : a diagnosi
of the problem is found in the different ideologico-theoretical pa spec.

-e:

from which political leaders analyzed it, depending on their respective ,arty
14/
of affiliation. —
It is easy to infer from here that if there is no agreement at the main
causes of a problem, among those who nuke the political decisions

o isce it,

it is hardly possible that a policy could be drawn to solve such a prcrlem.
Instead, what we would probably have, in case there is an intea ti n to do
.
something about it, it would be a number of conflicting policy proposals.

14/ The leaders, at the same time that identified the problem, pointed v p
.
its causes. For some of them the causes should be found in the taistaken
policies on agricultural development, in an irrational and politicallyoriented agrarian reform, etc. (National Party-rightist). For others,the
causes were the Jack of sound agricultural, rural and regional development
policies based on a rational and socially-oriented land exploitation
(Christian Democrats, center). And still for others, besides the above
mentioned causes, there was the problem of the logic of functioning of th
capitalist system and of an archaic productive process in the rural areas
(Popular Unity, leftist). In sum,the high level of rural-urban migration
as well as the concentration of the population in a few urban areas were
either the effect of a defectiva political conduction of the development
process or the expression, at the demographic level, ■ the genere-1 cri vi
of the social system as a whole. See Ibid, p. 21

The possibility of any of them being finally approved as the official policy,
will depend on the political strength of those who have proposed it and on
their capacity to exert pressure upon decision-makers at the governmental
level,
It is therefore relevant to postulate, as the research we have mentioned
does, that political actors in a democratic political system seem to rule r
their actions on the basis cf two main principles:
- the political significance attributed to some given phenomena in terms
of their own political aims and projects;

■

- the political viability of an action, given by the degree o : conflict
with other political actors it might prod ce and, therefore

by the

obstacles that might arise for its implementation to take place.
Therefore, if a certain problem has no high political significance for
a given political actor -i,e., a political party- end if ihe actions to lace
it might arouse resistances and conflict with other political fore s or even
with the party’s own. constituency, then i : is very likely that no policy wi Vi
f
be ever be formulated and no relevant actions taler to solve such a problem. This
seems to have been the case with the problem of rural-urban nigrat .on and.
high urban concentration of the population in Chile.
•

'* ■
' *

On the basis of these elements and of the analysis about the possibility
of designing and implementing a spatial distribution policy in Chile, the
referred study attempts to go beyond the specificity of the Chilean case
drawing the following generalization:

in a representative democracy, with «

20 -

system of multiple political parties and a high level of political organization
and participation of the social base, the actions of the political actors whc
constitute the power structure ara oriented to "the central objective of
winning, consolidating or increasing power, which depends on the degree of
electoral support". —

for this reason, the so called 'populist policies'

acquire a high political significance and a legitimazing character with respect
to the ruling class, in as much as they are attributed a redistributive objec ive
At the same time, long-term policies tend to have low political significance
as they do not contribute to achieve a greater electoral support.
The dynamic:- of this type of political system tenda to be oriented to
give priority to :he satisfaction of the demands of the bigger and more
organized social sectors which have a greater degree of political participât: on.
In Latin America, the major sectors of the population are constituted
by the middle classes and the urban proletariat.
actors will tend to be oriented, therefore,

The actions of the politic 1

> satisfy their demands, chan­

neling public resources towards the cities where these social sectors are
predominantly located. "Thus, a vicious circle is set up in which the con­
centration of population, the capacity for polf.tical pressure and the priority
assignment of public resources mutually reinforce each other"
icg to a greater concentration of population.

- - contribuí

In spite >f this, the probabi

lity of implementing a population policy on this matter would be low.

15/ Gonzalez,Gerardo, "Political adtors .
16/ Ibid, page.34.

o£. cit., pp. 33-34

"This would f e due to the fact that* first, its effects are felt only
o
in the long run, and, second* given the necessarily regional

redistributive

character of the regional and rural development policy that would be neces­
sary to attain such demographic goals, i . imp 1emeatatioa would place v x \
t,
x
contradiction to the logic of the functioning of the political system.

The

ensuing conflict would have as a consequence its low political viability.'' 17,/
The referred study heavily emphasir e v the importance o f the nature and
functioning of the political system.

According to its conclusions

the

characteristics of the latter seem to play a more important role than the
composition of a given power structure, with different political ideologies
and class interests, in the formulation of v given population policy.
Obviously, the relations existing between the nature of a given politics
system and the composition of the power structure should not be disregarded-.
But a more rigorous analysis of the subject would require a close- study of
the ideological elements implicit in the nature of a given political system.
Obviously, this last subject goes far beyond the scope of the present
paper.

Here we only attempt to point up some of the different levels and

phenomena through which the ideological elements may play a role in the
process of formulating population policies.

This would allow us, finally,

to attempt some reflection on the future perspectives of population policies

- 22 -

IV.
IDEOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS FOR THE FUTURE
FORMULATION OF POPULATION POLICIES IN LATIN AMERICA
Besides the academic interest that the discussion of :he ideological
aspects intervening in the process of formulating population polr tides has,
it seeme relevant to deal with the subject when considering the possibilities
that population policies have of being formulated in Latin America in The
near future.
From the analysis of the governments5 stater ants, it is observed that
most of them would be willing to implement actions towards overcoming the
unbalanced population distribution, while only a minor proportion, of them
would be willing to act particularly over population growth.
Given the importance of the nature and characteristics of the political
system for the possibility of designing meaningful and workable population
policies and given the fact that in the course of the 1970’s there has been
in Latin America a predominant tendency toward the establishment of authori­
tarian military regimes, it seems relevant to reflect about the implications
of such processes for future population policies.
In other words, having occurred some important changes at the political
system level in most of the countries of the region, what possibilities do
governmental statements on population have to become actual policies on this
matter?
In the Last years, a growing tendency to establish military authori­
tarian political systems in South America has been observed.

The develop­

ment strategies chosen by these governments present very little variation

as to the social model chosen and as to the type of policies to which priority
is given.

Peru is the only country with a military government which keeps

away from the classical liberal capitalist model.
Now, it seems to us that the more relevant characteristics of the result­
ing political systems in terms of the possibility of formulating population
policies would be:
- there is a greater capacity for political control and, therefore, the
composition of the power structure would not be a really significant
element in the process of political decision making;
- in general, these governments are long term administrations, so policies
may not be privileged by their immediate effects, but rather by their
capacity to attain long-range objectives.

Short term redistributive

policies might be aimed only at maintaining the minimum basis for the
regime’s survival, effect which could also be partially obtained by
coercive measures;
- some ideological elements inherent to and characteristic of military
groups should be considered,

From the point of view of population

policies, duly importance should be given to the significance that

‘

these groups attribute to geo-political considerations within typical­
ly nationalist models.
All of these aspects would probably allow the formulation and implement­
ation of regional and agricultural development policies, in order to exert
some influence over the excessive concentration of population.

Ac the same

time, it is unlikely that they would intend to decrease population growth

-

24

-

ratee through actions explicitly aimed at achieving this purpose,

If this

were the case and the population growth rates continué decreasing in these
countries, this would be explained by the indirect effect of economic and
social policies affecting population growth.
In reference to the countries of Central America, whose political

reality is substantially different from the one observed today in South
America, the considerations made in section three of this paper are specially pertinent.
What we might expect in relation to these countries would be that

sectorial policies would be stated which would lessen the problems of popu­
lation they face, although, without tackling integral solutions to them.

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