núm. 17 (2012)

This article analyzes the foreign policy strategy of the government of Juan Manuel Santos, noting the key points of his international agenda. For such purpose, it is examined whether or not there is continuity in the conduction of the agenda, based on the previous government’s program, or if the Colombian foreign policy has been redirected. In terms of methodology, using a constructivist approach —of scenario analysis on two levels— the article compares the scopes of the government’s strategy and the costs of its implementation, on a short and long term.

This article analyzes the relationship between State and Nation in the recent events in Japan and Bolivia, cases in which the universally shared ideas about development and democracy are met with the common criteria for the majority of the countries in the world. This relationship is analyzed comparing the particularities of each context regarding the concepts mentioned. Japan, despite being considered as an economically developed country, is criticized for its lack of exercise of democratic, popular politics. That country, despite being in the 21st century, remains a constitutional monarchy. Thus, given the catastrophic episode from March, 2011, the destiny of the citizens was defined by the imperial family. Bolivia, for its part, since the beginning of this century has managed a national reconstruction that has re-founded the Constitution and, therefore, the nation and the State. However, this democratic reorganization now faces a number of dilemmas where the State is debating between democracy and authoritarianism, as well as between liberal development and development from a communal perspective.

This paper seeks to present the partial results of a research process that aimed to identify the determinants of corporate development in the region of Yopal, Casanare, where La Salle University’s Utopia Project is contextualized. This paper presents the first progress based on a national and regional diagnostic component of the agricultural sector and the corporatization conditions surrounding it. The significance of the progress and results of this research process lies in the contribution that the different faculties can make to the growth and consolidation of the Utopia Project, the foundation of which is: “To transform young high school graduates in rural areas affected by violence into agricultural engineers [...] and to make them leaders for the socio-political transformation and the corporatization of the countryside at their places of origin” (Utopia Project).

This paper seeks to test the hypothesis that social public expenditure per capita invested in Bogota has had a significant influence on the improvement of the city’s human development. For this purpose, the Human Development Index (HDI) for the capital between 1995-2010 is estimated, using the new methodology proposed by the UNDP in 2010. Thus, a retrospective estimation of the life expectancy, salaries, and educational achievement rates is carried out, the last as a combination between the average years of education and expected years of instruction. A qualitative analysis is then presented, between the HDI components and the social public expenditure invested through politics, programs, projects carried out in the city, according to the District Development Plan “Bogotá positiva, para vivir mejor (Positive Bogota, to Live Better)”. Finally, a quantitative analysis of this relation is made and it is concluded that social public spending per capita is significant to explain the HDI, since there is a long-term and stable relation between the two variables.

The purpose of this article is to prove that, in Colombia, economic growth has not been enough neither to improve incomeper capita, nor has it been constant, mainly due to the fact that it has been highly supported by the growth of labor and capital, while the contribution of factor productivity has been negative. In order to achieve this purpose, the document is structured in two parts. First of all, a theoretical reflection is carried out around Cobb-Douglas’s function of production, to show the existence of a residue beyond the growth of employment rate and capital, and also to highlight the fact that the existence of that residue, the so-called A Factor, is the key for the sustainable growth in the classically and recently developed countries, particularly Asian countries. Secondly, the useless role that factorial productivity hasplayed in Colombian growth for the past thirty years is evidenced, as well as the conclusions resulting from this situation.

This article contributes to the discussion about equity and efficiency as a contribution to economic analysis, in the framework of residential public utilities in Colombia. Based on a critical review, it is found that the criterion of equity as a right to the provision of these services is not reached, because the provider understands the service from the point of view of the market (supply is based on demand) and not from the social benefit that its consumption represents. Likewise, the regulation and the decentralized form in which these resources are managed have generated different resultsin terms of efficiency and equity in the regions, given that the differences regarding population density, cultural characteristics and citizens’ participation in processes of change have not been taken into account.

In this paper, a reflection is made about the role of the Government and the territory when local human development processes are being addressed. For this purpose, the development, theoretical supports of local human development (LHD) were analyzed, as well as the methodology proposed by the United Nations Program for the Development of its achievement on a local level. Finally, a review is made of the results of the implementation of the LHD methodology in Colombia and Brazil, which makes it possible to conclude that the LHD can be differentiated from other forms of development by the generation of citizen assets for the people involved in the process. However, the big challenges continue. Without the real imperative for human development and without the commitment to development from their territorial base, it is likely that most LHD projects are taken through the same path as other development models.