Armed Forces, Bureaucratic Reforms & Governance: Explaining Changes in Autonomy and State Capacity in State Agencies

This article explains the factors behind the inverse changes over time in the autonomy and state capacity levels of two Peruvian state agencies: the Space Agency of Peru and the Nuclear Agency of Peru. Autonomy and state capacity are categories that do not necessarily have to go hand in hand, so both agencies move beyond the strong-weak duality in terms of institutional strength. In addition to describing and documenting that both institutions have inverse changes in autonomy and state capacity over time, the main objective of this article is to answer the reasons behind these changes. Therefore, through a qualitative methodology, the argument highlights the role of the armed forces as a source of change and strengthening of their capacity level but also as a cause of the decrease of their autonomy level. The agencies were created and strengthened during the reforms implemented by the Revolutionary Government of the Armed Forces commanded by Velasco Alvarado. Nevertheless, military action within the institutions diminished their level of independence and self-management. In the case of the Space Agency, Air Force personnel have produced an increase in the level of capacity while the level of autonomy decreased. In the case of the Nuclear Agency, the departure of Naval personnel made it possible to increase the level of autonomy at the cost of reducing the level of capacity. Finally, this article not only provides lessons at a theoretical level but also offers a mapping of routes for reforms and public policies.