From red tape to joined-up government

FOR the past couple of years Bello has lived in Lima, Peru’s capital. The other day he had to do some official paperwork. Assured by the head of the office concerned, a personal acquaintance, that it would be fine to pass by the ministry the following day, he turned up only to be told that the secretary who carries out the necessary task was “on holiday”. The boss was “in a meeting”. In other words, come back another day. Fortunately, after a quick e-mail, the boss appeared and affably arranged for another secretary to wield the rubber stamp.

This trivial incident is an everyday occurrence in Latin America. Unless a citizen has a contact among the higher-ups, there is normally no happy ending of the sort that Bello enjoyed. The plodding inefficiency and red tape of public bureaucracies has become an unaffordable drag on the region and a source of growing frustration. Despite the economic slowdown, more Latin Americans are middle class than in the past. They are demanding a more sophisticated, efficient and less corrupt state. Decentralisation and the digital revolution pose additional challenges.