central, regional or municipal — is a very
resource-intensive way of influencing user
behavior. This is especially true if the gov-
ernment’s formal rules and policy are not
congruent with the existing cultural norms,
which reflect the way people normally go
about solving daily problems. Despite recent
efforts to decentralise and modernise
Bolivia’s forestry sector, many governmental
organisations continue to operate in a cul-
ture characterised by top-down manage-
ment styles. The historical account showed
that when the formal rules created by such
structures of government are imposed on
local forest users, they are not likely to be
effective.To make the new regime more effective,
government officials need to learn a differ-
ent style of public management that is
capable of involving forest users in a more
constructive way in the sector’s public policy
process. This transformation process is
about much more than just changing the
law — it is about transforming a deeply
rooted culture of governance. One should
therefore be careful to expect too much,
too soon from the Bolivian reforms.References
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Krister Andersson([email protected]) and
Diego Pacheco([email protected]) are
with the Center for the Study of Institutions,
Population and Environmental Change (CIPEC)
Indiana University Bloomington, IN, USA. Krister’s
research focuses on public policies for decentrali-
sed natural resource management, forest carbon
sequestration activities, and international deve-
lopment cooperation (see his book ¿Cómo hacer
funcionar la gestión forestal descentralizada?).
Diego studies the relationship between public
policies and rural populations in Bolivia, pursuing
a doctorate in Public Policy. He is the author of
several books, including La Ley INRA en el Espejo
de la Historiaand Las Tierras Bajas de Bolivia a
fines del Siglo XX.