ABSTRACT
Paraguay is a country without experience in democracy, a fundamentally agricultural economy with limited diversification, low productivity, enormous socioeconomic inequality, and little development of either the market or the state as these institutions are understood in industrial societies. Institutions have been strongly influenced by political sectarianism and little effort has been dedicated to a vision of the country’s future. These conditions have contributed to high levels of informality, corruption and a low quality democracy, as reflected in the indices of transparency, of governance, and of competitiveness in world markets. 1
