Abstract:
The purpose of this study is to apply Robert Cox's hypotheses regarding the executive head of international organizations generally to that of the inter-American system specifically. These are: (1) the notion that the quality of executive leadership may be the most important factor in the growth in scope and authority of the inter-American system; and (2) that through his role in the development of the system, the executive emerges as the key to the evolution of the system as an autonomous actor in inter-American and global politics. The assumption to be tested is that international organizations evolve an existence independent of their national components. Accordingly, the evolution of the inter-American system will be traced from its origins to the present. It will be shown that the system has indeed grown in scope and authority and that executive leadership has played a salient role in the growth process. The essential questions to be answered are: (1) Does the growth in scope and authority of the inter-American system constitute evidence of the emergence of an independent actor in world politics? (2) Does the executive's role constitute what Cox calls the most critical single determinant?