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Government-Business Relations in the Construction of Mercosur

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Gian Luca Gardini
Gian Luca Gardini*
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge, UK
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Abstract

Democratic consolidation was the top priority of re-democratized Argentina and Brazil. Regional integration was also part of this goal from two perspectives: from the outside, through a treaty that diminished the scope for political manoeuvring by the military and increased international support for the incumbent administrations, and; from within, through encouragement of a proactive role for business in integration that would give it democratic legitimacy, while, at the same time, exercising democratic practices. Argentine and Brazilian political classes expected to combine these two aspects but soon had to face business reluctance. Government-business relations in the construction of Mercosur reflected government attempts to balance the trade-off between the approaches from without and from within. Although business was largely excluded from the strategic formulation of integration, in a democratic context, governments have to accommodate societal interests. This occurred through a significant overlap between powerful business interests and the executive's plans. The achievement of integration helped consolidate democracy and the choices made by political elites drove forward the democratic process.

Keywords

businessMercosurintegrationArgentinaBrazilprivate sector
Type
Article
Information
Business and Politics , Volume 8 , Issue 1 , April 2006 , pp. 1 - 26
Copyright
Copyright © V.K. Aggarwal 2006 and published under exclusive license to Cambridge University Press 

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