Colombia Local Government
Isla de San Andrés
Courtesy Embassy of Colombia, Washington
The unitary nature of the governmental system relegated
local
governments to the status of implementors with quite
limited
policy-making authority. As of 1988, Colombia was divided
into the
Special District (Distrito Especial) of Bogotá,
twenty-three
departments, and nine national territories, which were
comparable
in area to the departments but were sparsely populated
(see
fig. 1). Unlike the departments, the number and size of the
national
territories were subject to administrative change.
Although
presidential appointees headed departments and national
territories, national territories usually were managed
from the
national capital because of their small populations and
minor
economic importance. The national territories consisted of
four
intendencies (intendencias) and five lower-ranking
commissaryships (comisarias).
The president names department governors for an
indefinite
term. Until 1978 these appointments were made strictly on
the basis
of party parity, and some modified forms of parity were
maintained
until Barco took office in 1986. The governor is
responsible only
to the national government for the handling of
departmental affairs
and is bound to obey and enforce orders issued by the
national
government. The governor also issues decrees, appoints and
removes
departmental officials (except mayors), and assists in the
judicial
administration of the department, protecting and
supervising public
establishments and overruling unconstitutional acts of
mayors and
municipal councils. Although the departments had little
actual
self-government, they had local legislatures, or
assemblies, that
assisted the governors. The departmental assemblies met
annually
for a two-month session.
Within each department and national territory, the
lowest level
of local government was the municipality, of which there
were at
least 915. A mayor (alcalde), who was responsible
to the
departmental governor, directed a municipality. Until
March 1988--
when mayors were elected popularly for the first
time--governors
appointed mayors and rotated them frequently, without
consideration
for their local roots.
Popularly elected councils (juntas)--elected to
two-year
terms--assisted the mayors in planning public works
projects. The
councils' functions and powers were so limited, however,
that they
often did not even bother to meet. Unofficially, most
municipalities were subdivided into zones
(corregimientos),
each supervised by an official known as a
corregidor, who
lacked official status but nevertheless performed a
variety of
judicial and police duties.
Indian reservations (resguardos) were the only
other
official administrative subdivisions besides
municipalities with
legal status. Specific laws and locally elected
authorities
governed the reservations, which operated as corporate
communities
occupying assigned geographical areas
(see Contemporary Trends
, ch.
2). The Indian authorities governed through a council
(cabildo), which was elected popularly and met
regularly.
Although legally entitled to all rights and privileges of
full
citizenship, Indian rights groups frequently complained of
being
forced off contested land by armed thugs hired by
landowners.
Consequently, in the mid-1984 to 1987 period, the Quintín
Lamé
Command staged numerous land occupations. Indian groups
also sought
to promote local improvements through community action,
public
education, and legal aid.
Prior to the March 1988 municipal elections, most major
decisions regarding governmental matters in a municipality
were
made at the departmental level, or at least had to have
the
approval of the departmental governor. For example, the
governor
had to approve property and market taxes levied by
municipalities.
Because of the limited income raised by the
municipalities, funds
to provide for utilities and other public services also
came from
the departmental and national governments. Even these
funds tended
to be used inefficiently and for political purposes as a
result of
the extensive political patronage by local bosses
(gamonales). In the mid-1980s, a "national civic
movement"
became increasingly militant in its strike tactics and
emerged as
a significant force for change at the local level. As a
result of
the first popular election of mayors in March 1988, the
municipalities presumably gained a voice in
decision-making
processes affecting them.
Beginning with the March 1988 elections, mayors were
elected
for two-year terms, with the exception of the mayor of
Bogotá, who
was elected to serve a four-year term. The bill approving
direct
election of mayors posed a challenge to the traditional
strongholds
of political bosses, who could no longer use political
patronage to
fill these positions. The municipal appointments had long
provided
a spoils system, especially for the majority Liberal
Party, which
strongly opposed the bill. A poll taken in late 1984
showed that 96
percent of the municipalities with more than 50,000
inhabitants had
a Liberal majority. Although the Liberals maintained their
overall
dominance in the March 1988 municipal elections, the
Conservatives
won in the two largest cities: Bogotá and Medellín.
Data as of December 1988
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