03/26/18 Colloquium Series - Tulia Falleti: “Social Origins of Institutional Strength: Prior Consultation over Extraction of Hydrocarbons in Bolivia”

Much has been written in the social sciences about why and how institutions come about and gradually change. Less attention, however, has been paid to the questions of why and how institutions strengthen. In this chapter, I propose a conceptualization of institutional strength based on social actors’ compliance and on state’s enforcement. I trace these dimensions in the institutionalization of prior consultation (the collective right of indigenous communities to be consulted before mega-infrastructure or extractive projects begin) in Bolivia from 1991 until the present. I argue that prior consultation was adopted due to the social mobilization and political pressure from indigenous groups. However, the institution remained weak until the indigenous movement was politically incorporated into the state. Only then, prior consultation in hydrocarbons was systematically complied with and enforced. This chapter will show that the political incorporation of the mobilized groups who are behind institutional creation leads to institutional strengthening.